United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Basketball

The Coast Guard Academy men’s basketball team has a lot to look forward too as the Bears return three starters, all juniors, from a team that earned a berth to the postseason for the first time in 11 years as the Bears received a spot in the ECAC Tournament. Coast Guard was 17-9 overall and 7-5 in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).

The Bears were the fifth-seed and lost a heartbreaking game to Rhode Island College 70-68 in the first round of the ECAC Tournament to end the season.

Craig Johnson, who broke the single-season school scoring record with 507 points and earned first team All-conference and second team All-region honors from d3hoops.com last season, will not be with the team this year as he took a religious sabbatical and is expected to be back in 2007-2008. Johnson led the team with 19.5 points and was second with 5.2 rebounds per game. He led the NEWMAC (.613) in field goal percentage was third in scoring and second in rebounding. He became the first Coast Guard player to score over 30 points four times in one season.

Junior co-captains Al Sowers, Grant Johnson and classmate Jeff Prebeck are all back as veteran starters as the Bears look to compete for the NEWMAC championship and return to postseason play.

Prebeck, a forward, who was second on the team with 15.4 points and led the conference with 10.6 rebounds per game, was named to the All-conference second team.

Sowers, who was also a second team selection, set the single-season school record with 122 assists, averaged 14.7 points and led the team with 68 three-pointers, shooting 42.2 percent from three-point range.

Grant Johnson, who was fourth on the team with 8.6 points per game, was second on the team with 47 three-pointers and 78 assists.

A big difference this season will be one thing the Bears lacked last season, a backup point guard. Freshman Stefan Lewis, who attended New Mexico Military Academy (NMMI) last season, will fill that spot this season. His ability to backup Sowers at the point guard position, something Coast Guard struggled with a year ago is something Barry is happy about.

“Stefan has been a pleasant surprise for us so far in the preseason, he has performed well beyond our expectations,” said Barry.

A pair of versatile players, freshman Aaron Jones and sophomore Justin Church will both give the Bears depth in the backcourt off the bench this season.

Junior Steve Blum, who is coming off a solid sophomore season in which he averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds, will start at center. Blum who averaged just 13.5 minutes per game last season is a very athletic player who greatly improved with each game last season.

”Steve earned All-America honors in track (javelin) and he is very confident as are we as a coaching staff in his ability, said Barry. “He is going to be a big part of our team this season as he is very athletic, can rebound and he improves offensively every day.”

Junior Ryan Burgess will give the Bears depth in the front court.

“We are extremely confident that between Prebeck, Blum and Burgess, we can make up for the loss of Craig Johnson in the reboundind department,” said Barry.

Freshman Eric Hudson will start at the small forward spot. Hudson, who gained some valuable experience at the Naval Prep School (NAPS) last season where he had an extra year to mature and prepare for Division III basketball.

“Hudson is a very valuable young player for us,” said Barry. “He give us a lot of options at both the guard and forward spots and he can also run the point if needed.”

Coast Guard (7-5) finished in third place in the NEWMAC last season, two games behind WPI and a game behind MIT and were eliminated in the semifinals of the NEWMAC tournament by MIT 69-57.

”We are a very confident group coming off of last year,” said head coach Pete Barry in his 17th season. “This junior trio has been starting since they were freshman and they are now veterans of the NEWMAC and they believe we can improve upon last season, which we can, but now we have to demonstrate that on the court.”