DELHI, N.Y. (November 25, 2020) – It was around this time three years ago where head coach Zack Thomsen and his SUNY Delhi men's basketball team appeared to have their first victory of the 2017-18 season in grasp, leading Fisher, 65-55, with three minutes to play. The Falcons, however, soared towards a 12-5 run to narrow the gap to 70-67. After a missed Delhi free throw with just seconds to play, Fisher banked in a desperation 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, eventually resulting in an 81-75 Broncos defeat to drop the green and gold to 0-4.
Things were not going as well as Coach Thomsen would have wanted to start his third year as the Broncos head coach to say the least. Moreover, his sophomore class that included future award winners Payton Dean, Jordan Fragale, Carlos Ithier, and William Knight couldn't help but notice their career record at SUNY Delhi was a less-than-ideal 13-21 record, as well as suffering their seventh straight defeat that carried over from 2016-17. The team took a while to gel, as many of them accounted for Thomsen's first and second recruiting classes.
"Going into the 2017-18 season I thought we had a chance to be pretty good," said Thomsen. "We were still very young but returned some pretty talented players. Within the first four games of the season we lost twice in overtime and the other two games were close too. Those bad breaks were disappointing, but we didn't let it demoralize us and ruin our season."
Before anyone could make an assumption on the Broncos' fate moving forward, the Delhi men won their next two games, the first a 74-54 rout of Albany Pharmacy and the next a 66-62 revenge victory over Stratford, who handed the Broncos their season-opening loss two weeks prior. The following day Thomsen and his team welcomed three-time defending USCAA National Champions Berkeley, who arrived in the Catskills with a 56-game winning streak. In what would be the turning point to the season, Delhi went into halftime with a 41-34 lead, surprising many that were in attendance. More surprising was the breakthrough performance of the 6'8" Dean, who finished with 18 points and 23 rebounds that earned him USCAA Player of the Week honors. The Broncos doubled down in a gritty second half to pull off an 88-84 win, giving Delhi the convincing win they needed to keep on the winning path.
"There is nothing more motivating than taking a win streak from an opponent, especially a 56-game win streak," recalled Dean. "That win gave us the feeling of invincibility that, for me, carried over until my last game playing as a Bronco. Coach always said the harder working team wins, so we did just that. A win like that will always be remembered no matter if you played it or watched it, it's a time to be proud of the people a part of it."
Thomsen's team finished the season at .500 with a 15-15 ledger that set the stage for the Broncos' entry into NCAA Division III. The Broncos picked up a key acquisition in junior transfer Justin Daoud, a guard/forward coming off two regional championships at Herkimer CC. They entered the next season on a mission to prove their value with their new NCAA identity, cruising to a 17-10 record, including ten straight home wins, that culminated in erasing late double-digit deficits in back-to-back ACAA Tournament games to win their first NCAA conference title. The Broncos then secured a 21-7 record in 2019-20, winning their second straight ACAA championship and earning their first USCAA National Tournament appearance, where they won their opening round matchup. In doing the math, the Broncos are 53-28 since that dreaded 0-4 start just three years ago.
Point guard Fragale, guard/forward Daoud, forward Dean, and shooting guard Knight all eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark their senior seasons. Fragale completed his Broncos career as a two-time USCAA All-American, including First Team honors in 2019-20, and was named the 2018-19 ACAA Tournament MVP and 2019-20 ACAA Player of the Year. Daoud earned 2019-20 USCAA All-American Second Team and ACAA Tournament MVP. Dean pulled down three All-ACAA selections, as Knight earned one All-ACAA choice. Shooting guard Ithier finished with 783 career points and 184 career 3-pointers, earning Thomsen's 2019-20 Coach's Award.
"I couldn't be any more proud of all five of our 2020 graduates," related Thomsen. "In the era of the transfer student-athlete those five guys stuck together through some very challenging times. Each of them continued to improve throughout their careers and became tremendous leaders for the players that followed in their footsteps. They truly left our program in a much better place than it was in when they arrived."
The Broncos still have plenty to prove moving forward, entering into a new era as members of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and the chance to compete at the NCAA Division III Tournament when SUNY Delhi becomes full members in 2021-22.
