The Misericordia men's basketball team will open its home schedule Friday with the 17th annual Ramada/Laurel Line Tournament. Slated to compete this season are Baptist Bible, Marywood and Penn State-Hazleton.
Last season was special for the Cougars. They captured their fifth Laurel Line title with an 80-69 win over Baptist Bible and went on to finish the season 19-10. Junior Vinny Baumunk was named tournament MVP after a solid effort in the championship game against Baptist Bible. At season's end, he was named team MVP.
Now in his senior year, Baumunk is a team captain, and his Cougars are 1-1 after splitting games at the White Rose City Classic at York. He leads the team's offense—scoring 18.0 points per game.
Co-captains Dom Del Prete and Marcus Little, Robbie Johnson and Ethan Eichhorst round out the starting five.
Del Prete and Little are the perfect compliments to Baumunk at the helm of the team. Del Prete is scoring 16.0 points per game; Little has moved the ball efficiently and is averaging 2.5 assists per game. They lead the team in minutes played per game with 33.0 and 34.0, respectively.
Johnson played well over his freshman season to earn a starting role. He's proven to be a durable, effective player on the floor, averaging 12.5 points per game.
Eichhorst is the only freshman starter. He's the champion of the team's youth movement that saw the edition of nine freshmen. He's averaging 7.0 rebounds and 12.0 points per game.
Misericordia's five Laurel Line titles lead the pack, but Baptist Bible isn't far behind with three. The Defenders last won the tournament in 2006 when they beat the Cougars 55-52 in the finals. Team captain Justin Cook, who was named Laurel Line MVP after the 2006 win, leads the team into its 16th tournament.
Marywood is competing for the 15th time. The Pacers' first and only tournament championship came in 2004 with an 84-79 win over Baptist Bible. Prince Blacknall is averaging 18.0 points per game as a senior.
This is the third appearance from Penn State-Hazleton. The Lions' only Laurel Line win came in the 2007 consolation game, where they defeated Marywood 73-60.
The Cougars face Baptist Bible in the opening round Friday at 8:00 p.m. in the Anderson Center.
