Kevin Roach and Andrew Seniuk combined to lead the MacArthur boys basketball team to the playoffs during the 2011-12 season. Now they again are teammates.
Seniuk has joined Roach on the Division III SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team.
Seniuk made his collegiate debut Nov. 15, playing 14 minutes off the bench, tallying three points, three rebounds, one block and two steals in the Hawks’ season-opening 69-60 win against Whittier College in Redlands, CA. A day later,
Seniuk produced 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting in 21 minutes as New Paltz won, 82-60, against the host University of Redlands.
Roach started both games, combining for 13 points and nine rebounds in New Paltz’s West Coast sweep.
“Kevin and Andrew have been exactly the type of players that I have looked for and recruited to build my program around,” New Paltz men’s basketball coach Mike Rejniak said. “How Coach [Eric] Rubin has taught them the game of basketball has made them immediate impacts at the college level despite their age. Kevin is now a two-year starter for me as a sophomore, and Andrew came off the bench in California and was our leading scorer.”
Roach averaged 12.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game as a senior in 2011-12 as the Generals reached the playoffs. He earned all-county honors. Seniuk reached the 20-point plateau three times last season with MacArthur, including a career-high 29 points at Plainview JFK on Feb. 12. He received all-conference honors.
“They both have those intangibles that no one can coach,” Rejniak said. “They both have the motor, IQ and resilience that many players lack in this day and age. Outside of these great qualities, they both have tremendous basketball skills
and are constantly working to improve on their weaknesses.
“My assistant and I often joke and ask the question sometimes, ‘Why can’t all of our student-athletes come from MacArthur?’ That’s the greatest compliment that I can say about Coach Rubin and what he has given my program in two great student-athletes.”
MacArthur opens its 2013-14 season at home against rival Division in the annual Jeff Shaw Memorial Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The four-team tournament also includes Massapequa and Hjemly Sports Boarding School, which is visiting Long Island from Ringe, Denmark.
