The men's basketball team tied for fifth in the NESCAC and ended the year at 14-8 under 34th-year head coach Dick Whitmore, who earned his 550th career win during the season.

Senior guard Patrick McGowan earned second team honors from the NESCAC after leading Colby in scoring (16.3) and steals (53). He shot 41 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the foul line. McGowan also earned D3hoops.com National Team of the Week honors early in the season.

Sophomore center Drew Cohen averaged 15.8 points and led the Mules in rebounding (7.4), blocked shots (48) and field goal percentage (.612). Cohen led the conference in blocked shots.

Colby opened the season by winning the Emmanuel Tournament. The Mules went 8-3 at Wadsworth Gymnasium.

Tom Nale and Mike Rutherford earned NESCAC Winter All-Academic honors.

With six players returning who saw starting time, the men's basketball team should be improved.

Senior captain Patrick McGowan (North Attleboro, Mass. -- 14.2 ppg, team-best 76 assists) returns at shooting guard for 34th-year head coach Dick Whitmore. McGowan also led the Mules in steals, free throw shooting, and was the team's most dangerous 3-point shooter.

Sophomore guard Nick Farrell (Aspen, Colo.) averaged 4.3 points per game and saw more time as last season progressed. Senior guard Jared Cushman (Augusta, Maine) returns to the lineup after missing all of last season with an injury. Senior Tom Nale (Waterville, Maine) also saw minutes at guard last year.

Sophomore center Drew Cohen (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) did not see much time early in his first season, but came on strong in the last 10 to 12 games. Cohen led the NESCAC in blocks per game after swatting away 44 shots in just 16 minutes per game. He also averaged 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds, but his averages were down because of low minutes played per game early in the season. Senior Jamie Snyder-Fair (Leverett, Mass.) also saw time at center last year.

Junior forward Andrew Jenkins (Gorham, Maine) averaged 12.4 points and junior Michael Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland) added 10.1 points per game. Nate Dick, another junior forward, contributed 6.6 points a contest. Senior Mike Rutherford (Wyckoff, N.J.) also will get quality minutes.

Colby's past half-century is rich with basketball tradition. The powerful teams of the 1950s created a groundwork for the storied teams of the 1970s.

In 1974 the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) competition was introduced. Colby dominated on a regular basis from the beginning, winning 16 outright championships and sharing eight others.

Colby has been a strong force in the NESCAC, sending 18 teams to ECAC tournaments from 1972 to 2002, winning three ECAC championships (1990, 1991, and 1993), and sending three teams to the NCAA tournament since the conference began qualifying teams in 1994.

Over the past three decades the program has had 11 All-Americans, with the crowning moment being the 1990 selection of Matt Hancock '90 as National Player-of-the-Year.

A great strength of the program is its alumni group, one of the most active and connected in Division III.

About Wadsworth Gymnasium