Sunday, December 6, 2009

Early Look: St. Peter's Moving Forward

Here's the fourth in an early season look at conference teams. Up now ...

SAINT PETER'S (1-0, 3-3)

The Peacocks started league play with a two-point victory over Iona. They meet Fairfield later today (Sunday).

It's a team still dealing a little with inconsistency. It lost by two points to Seton Hall in its season opener and, then, suffered a 12-point loss to Youngstown State and a six-point setback to Long Island University.

Still, this looks to be the best Saint Peter's team since the Keydren Clark days. A strong playing base of four consistent players a year ago has expanded to six players who have earned a start thus far this season.

Newcomers Jeron Belin (8.8 points, 5.0 rebounds), a slashing forward; and Darius Conley (5.7, 5.8), an inside presence, have provided help. So, too, has sophomore guard Brandon Hall. The "Big Three" of juniors forward Ryan Bacon (a league-best 4.2 offensive rebounds per game), and guards Wesley Jenkins and Nick Leon, is still the foundation here. But, now, there's both help and depth.

Insight: The team that was sixth-youngest nationally a year ago now has experience as well as additional talent. The Peacocks are this blogger's dark-horse team in the conference's overall scheme. A win today over Fairfield would solidify its claim to being one of the MAAC's top four teams with a chance to crack the top three.

No comments: