TELEGRAM: Mike Baldarelli leads Greyhounds into N.C.A.A. regional

March 13, 2009

NCAA DIVISION 2 TOURNAMENT

By Jennifer Toland

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER - Assumption College players reveled in their Northeast-10 Conference Tournament championship Saturday afternoon at Laska Gymnasium, cheering and chanting and stomping and taking turns cutting down the nets.

Greyhounds' sophomore Mike Baldarelli gave the piece he clipped, about a 3-inch segment, to his dad, Bert, who'll find a safe place for the memento in the family's Sutton home. Baldarelli was named MVP of the tourney after averaging 19 points and six rebounds in four games.

"It was a great time," the former Holy Name High star said before Wednesday's practice, "but now it's time to focus on the next game."

The tourney title earned Assumption (22-9) an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 2 Tournament. The Greyhounds will face NE-10 foe Stonehill (21-7) in the first round at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow at C.W. Post in Brookville, N.Y. Assumption is making its second straight NCAA appearance and 26th overall, the fourth most all-time among D2 schools.

Assumption beat Stonehill, 54-53, in the teams' only meeting this season. Baldarelli swished the winning 3-pointer with four seconds to play.

Baldarelli, the 2007 Massachusetts Gatorade High School Player of the Year, averaged 22.4 points his senior year at Holy Name. He was a highly-regarded shooter and scorer and arrived at Assumption with expectations - both his own and those of others.

"Here's the best player in Central Mass., a great high school player who's just going to come in and continue that great career as a freshman," Assumption coach Serge DeBari said. "It's not that easy. It really isn't. I think there was some discouragement his first year, but the thing that Michael has going for him is he has tremendous character and work ethic. When he faces obstacles, he just wants to know what he has to do to overcome it."

After coming off the bench and averaging 6.7 points and 2.6 rebounds as a freshman, Baldarelli worked his way into the starting lineup and led the team in both scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) this year. He ranked second on the team in minutes.

"I knew I could play better," Baldarelli said. "Last year, what I thought I had to do was score. This year, I came in re-focused and Serge told me, ‘You can't just be a shooter out there. We need you to be a player.' "

DeBari has said several times this year he's pleased with Baldarelli's development as a more complete player. He's improved at taking players off the dribble, he's rebounding better and his defense is coming.

"When he got here he had to learn to be more of a team contributor," DeBari said, "not just a person who can put points up. To his credit that's what he's done."

Baldarelli has continued to be a consistent scorer, too, though, and led Assumption in points in 12 games this season. He scored a season-high 26 twice, including against St. Anselm in the NE-10 tourney semifinals.

He put up a career-high 11 rebounds three times this year.

Baldarelli played in all three of Assumption's NCAA games last season and contributed to a key run during AC's come-from-behind first-round win over Holy Family. The Hounds fell to Bentley in the Northeast regional final.

"It was a one-of-a-kind experience," Baldarelli said. "You've got to come ready to play, you can't be nervous and I'm really looking forward to it again."

If Assumption wins tomorrow, it will move on to the semis on Sunday. The regional final is Tuesday.