BYERS Benchmark !!!
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THE CHOPS
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BYERS Benchmark !!!
Byer's benchmark !!!!
Senior tops 1,000-point mark in win
What might seem like a setback eventually might turn into a positive step.
Pitt-Johnstown's Paul Byer will attest to that.
The Conemaugh Township High School graduate began his college career as an aspiring quarterback under NCAA Division I scholarship at Southern Illinois University.
A detour brought him closer to home, and Byer prepared to participate in two sports - football and basketball - at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Then, UPJ basketball coach Bob Rukavina made an offer that Byer couldn't refuse.
Byer, in turn, made history with the Mountain Cats.
"Day by day, that's how I worked," Byer said after scoring 12 points in UPJ's 77-43 victory over Columbia Union on Saturday at the Sports Center. "Some things didn't work out for me. That's life. But I couldn't have picked a better group of guys to do this with."
Both the player and the Mountain Cats program are the better for Byer's decision to transfer to UPJ four years ago.
The 6-foot-6 senior forward became UPJ's 14th 1,000-point scorer, and only the sixth to reach the milestone in fewer than four seasons (Byer redshirted his first season because of NCAA transfer rules).
"He's a great player, and it's just a shame we didn't have him a fourth year," Rukavina said after UPJ improved to 8-10. "He's had a tremendous career. He's a quality person, and he's given everything he has to this program."
Since joining the Cats lineup in 2002-03, Byer has started 69 of the 70 games he's played and scored 1,005 career points, including 250 this season (14.7 per game).
He entered the Saturday's contest seven shy of the milestone.
For a while, it appeared as if UPJ might not need much production from Byer.
The Cats made their first seven field goals and led 16-3 when Byer finally netted his first basket at 15:52 of the opening half.
"We haven't had one of those games all year," Rukavina said. "We got out to a great start. That's so important at home. The confidence gets rolling."
Byer nailed a 3-point field goal from the left corner 12:08 before halftime to set a 25-11 score. The long shot put Byer at 1,002 points, and the game briefly was halted to recognize the accomplishment.
"It was just a normal drive and kick 3 from Joey Tutchstone," Byer said. "This is a great accomplishment to achieve with my teammates."
UPJ had plenty of contributors against 2-17 Columbia Union.
Ten Mountain Cats scored at least two points, and three of those reached double digits.
Dwight Hines had a team-best 15 points. Carlos Cogsdell tallied 14 points and six rebounds. Byer scored 12 points and pulled down six boards.
Tutchstone scored eight points, but grabbed seven rebounds and had 12 assists and two steals.
"The past few games we've started slow," Byer said. "We were down 14-2 to Millersville (a 76-70 home loss on Wednesday). We had to come out running on them. We started real quick and went from there."
"THE CHOPS".
Senior tops 1,000-point mark in win
What might seem like a setback eventually might turn into a positive step.
Pitt-Johnstown's Paul Byer will attest to that.
The Conemaugh Township High School graduate began his college career as an aspiring quarterback under NCAA Division I scholarship at Southern Illinois University.
A detour brought him closer to home, and Byer prepared to participate in two sports - football and basketball - at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Then, UPJ basketball coach Bob Rukavina made an offer that Byer couldn't refuse.
Byer, in turn, made history with the Mountain Cats.
"Day by day, that's how I worked," Byer said after scoring 12 points in UPJ's 77-43 victory over Columbia Union on Saturday at the Sports Center. "Some things didn't work out for me. That's life. But I couldn't have picked a better group of guys to do this with."
Both the player and the Mountain Cats program are the better for Byer's decision to transfer to UPJ four years ago.
The 6-foot-6 senior forward became UPJ's 14th 1,000-point scorer, and only the sixth to reach the milestone in fewer than four seasons (Byer redshirted his first season because of NCAA transfer rules).
"He's a great player, and it's just a shame we didn't have him a fourth year," Rukavina said after UPJ improved to 8-10. "He's had a tremendous career. He's a quality person, and he's given everything he has to this program."
Since joining the Cats lineup in 2002-03, Byer has started 69 of the 70 games he's played and scored 1,005 career points, including 250 this season (14.7 per game).
He entered the Saturday's contest seven shy of the milestone.
For a while, it appeared as if UPJ might not need much production from Byer.
The Cats made their first seven field goals and led 16-3 when Byer finally netted his first basket at 15:52 of the opening half.
"We haven't had one of those games all year," Rukavina said. "We got out to a great start. That's so important at home. The confidence gets rolling."
Byer nailed a 3-point field goal from the left corner 12:08 before halftime to set a 25-11 score. The long shot put Byer at 1,002 points, and the game briefly was halted to recognize the accomplishment.
"It was just a normal drive and kick 3 from Joey Tutchstone," Byer said. "This is a great accomplishment to achieve with my teammates."
UPJ had plenty of contributors against 2-17 Columbia Union.
Ten Mountain Cats scored at least two points, and three of those reached double digits.
Dwight Hines had a team-best 15 points. Carlos Cogsdell tallied 14 points and six rebounds. Byer scored 12 points and pulled down six boards.
Tutchstone scored eight points, but grabbed seven rebounds and had 12 assists and two steals.
"The past few games we've started slow," Byer said. "We were down 14-2 to Millersville (a 76-70 home loss on Wednesday). We had to come out running on them. We started real quick and went from there."
"THE CHOPS".