Senior backcourt leads the way for 2006-07 SU Men's Basketball team
SALISBURY, Md. - Salisbury University men's basketball coach Steve Holmes looks to build off of his best season since his inaugural one in 2000-2001 (15-10, 9-5 CAC). The Gulls ended last year above .500 at 15-13 and sported a 7-7 Capital Athletic Conference record. Salisbury barley missed the NCAA tournament when second-seeded Catholic ended the Gulls' impressive postseason run in the CAC title game.

"We want to win the [CAC] regular season and tournament crown in order to give us an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament," said Holmes, who enters his seventh season at the helm for SU.

It has been 11 years since the Sea Gulls last won the CAC championship (1995-96).

The Gulls are returning two second team all-conference players from last season in Ray Williams and Segun Odumeru. The senior backcourt tandem combined to give SU 33.8 points per game, 7.9 rebounds and 5 assists per game last year.

Williams led the team in scoring on 14 different occasions last season and was second on the team with 16.4 points per contest. The Hanover, Md. native also led the team in assists, minutes played and also shot 37 percent beyond the 3-point line.

The other half of Salisbury's backcourt is completed by Odumeru. The Riverdale, Md. native is currently the 15th all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,149 points. The guard led the Gulls with 17.4 points and 1.7 steals per game.

The majority of SU's offensive responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of the experienced backcourt duo. But with the up-tempo style Holmes preaches, points should be easy to come by.

"We rely on fast break points from our defense forcing turnovers," said Holmes.

SU will also expect production from junior swingman Jonas Vaitkus, who should be the first player inserted off the bench into the game. The sharp shooting co-captain from Columbia, Md. should flourish in the transition style offense.

The Sea Gulls will need to improve on their 70.7 points per game and 42 percent team field goal percentage last season which placed them in the bottom half of the conference. Helping SU in both departments will be forward Ozi Menakaya. SU hopes Menakaya will be a big factor for the Gulls in the middle. The sophomore led the team with 6.0 rebounds a game and shot 50 percent from the field a year ago as a freshman. The Largo, Md. native will need to stay consistent on the boards and improve his scoring from 3.7 points a game last season to give Salisbury that lethal post presence.

"We want to press a lot, make the other team uncomfortable, and force them to play at our tempo," said Holmes.

The SU defense gave up 71.8 points a game, which ranked fifth in the conference, a number Holmes and his staff hopes to drop almost 10 points to 62 this season.

"We need to get better defensively. We must play good [defense] in order to take care of teams we are supposed to beat," said Holmes.

To go along with Williams, Odumeru and Menakaya in the starting five will be sophomore Devin Jones and junior Frank Gerald, who are both new to the program.

Salisbury will also need to rely on its young players for depth off the bench to be successful. The Gulls have 13 underclassmen (five freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors) on their roster. Incoming freshmen include local Salisbury native Greg Palmer, forwards Mike Hacke and Matt Delizio and guard Will Watkins.

Salisbury always plays a competitive schedule as the Sea Gulls will venture out of conference this season to play the 2005-06 NCAA Division III national champion Virginia Wesleyan (November 29) on the road to go along with the always tough CAC schedule. The Sea Gulls were one of three teams to defeat the Marlins last season in a thrilling 66-62 victory at home.

If last years' run, at the end of the season, was any indication of how far the Sea Gulls have come then this season should be even more exciting as SU will go as far as its senior backcourt can take them.

• 2006-07 Team Schedule