Colts Punch Ticket to National Championship with Second Straight District Championship

Middletown, NY - The SUNY Orange men's basketball team punched their ticket to the national tournament Saturday night after defeating Mercer 102-83 in the East A District Championship. This is the second straight East A District championship for the Colts, having defeated SUNY Niagara in 2025, and third trip to the national tournament after making the Final Four in 2023 and making it to the second round in 2025.

Anthony Pacciarelli (Monroe, NY / St. Joseph Regional) continued his standout freshman campaign with another double-double, leading the Colts with 33 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore Darren McFarlane (Bronx, NY / Monsignor Scanlon) was unguardable in the paint, shooting 11-15 from the floor, posting 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The Colts withstood an early barrage of threes from the Mustangs, as GSAC Player of the Year Joell Idrovo connected from downtown on three straight possessions to give the Mustangs an early 9-6 lead. The hot shooting from the Mustange quickly faded however, and turned in favor of the Colts, as the Colts finished hte first half shooting 61.5% from downtown, including three three-pointers from both Pacciarelli and Giovani Rupert (Miami, FL / Flanigan), while the Mustangs finished the half shooting 29.4% from three-point distance.

The Colts trailed by as many as six in the first half, but took the lead on a Johnny Floyd (Bronx, NY / James Monroe) three-pointer with 11:50 to go and never looked back. The Colts turned up their normally stifling defense, allowing only two made baskets over the final 13 minutes of the half before a Pacciarelli three with nine seconds to go gave the defending champs a 54-37 lead at the break.

The Mustangs cut the defecit to 10 five minutes into the second half, but that was as close as they would get, as the Colts extended their lead back to 16 just three minutes later. The rest of the game was more of the same, as the Colts continued to build their lead before the final buzzer.

Freshman guard Gavin Williams (Fort Myers, FL / Bishop Verot) joined Pacciarelli, McFarlane and Rupert as the fourth Colt to score in double figures, totaling 16 points on an extremely efficient 7-10 from the field.

The Colts await their draw in the NJCAA Division II Championships, as the selection show will be Tuesday at 6:00 pm.