By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor
Last season, Clark hosted the NEWMAC Championship game at the Kneller Athletic Center. The Cougars were the favorites against No. 6 Babson, but the Beavers pulled the upset to win the conference title and the league’s automatic bid to the Div. III tournament. Clark came into this season with a chip on its shoulder and a mission to “finish the job.”
Mission accomplished. Led by former King Philip standout Bruce Saintilus, the Cougars knocked off crosstown rival and top seed WPI in this year’s final to win the program’s fifth NEWMAC title and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Saintilus was named Most Outstanding Player of the NEWMAC tournament. The senior forward came close to a triple-double in the final, scoring 14 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out seven assists.
“I had so many emotions,” Saintilus reflected in a phone call during a break in the team’s preparations for facing Keene State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. “I was happy but at the same time I had tears in my eyes. It was just all the hard work that we put in from day one kind of paid off and it felt like we could take a deep breath. But, now we’re back at it.”
Clark had lost both meetings with WPI, the regular season conference champs, during the regular season, but both games were tight, including a three-point game at the Kneller. The Cougars were confident that there was little to separate the teams and that the third meeting would go differently.
“I think the overall team feeling was just calm and confident,” Saintilus We went in there and I think we were calm the whole way. When they went on runs, we still came back and executed our stuff. I think we were just very prepared for it.”
He added, “We understood that they were a good team, but we weren’t convinced that they were better than us. The first two games definitely helped us figure out stuff on our end but we always had confidence that we were the better team overall.”
Being a senior and knowing that his collegiate career would soon be coming to a close added a different perspective for Saintilus and Clark’s five other seniors. They all came in believing that they would win a title and have gotten closer every season.
Saintilus said, “When we first came in, we were probably crazy naive, but we were like, ‘Yo, one day we’re going to win a ‘chip.’ Last year we kind of tasted it and we were like, ‘We belong here.’ We knew we were trying to make history and I feel like, no matter what happened this season, we didn’t stray from that goal because we just really believed in each other and believed that we could do this.”
But, the season wasn’t only going to be defined by how it ended.
“It was definitely a motivator but we just enjoyed the process,” Saintilus explained. “We tried to stay in the moment.”
“When you’re a freshman or sophomore, you think, ‘Yo, I have all the time in the world,’ then in a blink of an eye you’re a senior and this is your last go-around,” he continued. “It was just a very emotional year in general. Going out and having team dinners or just hanging out with the guys or shooting after practice, it all comes to an end. Being a senior, I tried to hone in and to stay where my feet are at and soak everything in.”
It was the culmination of an excellent four years for Saintilus in Worcester. A two-time Hockomock all-star at KP, Saintilus spent a post-grad year at Bridgton Academy before joining Clark. He hit the ground running by finishing second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game and rebounding at 6.3 per contest.
After putting up similar numbers as a sophomore (15.1 points and 4.8 rebounds), Saintilus jumped to this in the NEWMAC and tops on the team with 16.6 points per game as a junior (in addition to 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists). He was named to the all-conference first team and reached the 1,000-point mark for his college career.
This winter, Saintilus has averaged 16.4 points, more than five rebounds, and nearly three assists per game. He was named to the All-NEWMAC first team for the second season in a row.
His consistency has been a strength throughout his four years, but he also hasn’t rested on past success. Saintilus has spent his summers working out at Mass Premier with former Mansfield and Bridgewater State star Rocky DeAndrade to add different dimensions to his game. This season, Saintilus shot a career-best 42 percent from three.
“The game is changing,” he explained. “Every year that you come back, the scout is different, you might have a different role, so freshening up the skills you have and adding more skills will make you a more versatile player, which will ultimately help your team.”
All of the hard work that he has put in was recognized by the league, but Saintilus echoed comments from head coach Tyler Simms that the individual accolades are the result of team success. Saintilus said that the team has a motto, ‘Pedals over podiums,’ to remind them to focus on the steps along the way and positive results will come.
“I wouldn’t have made any sort of (all-conference) team if my teammates weren’t so selfless and didn’t sacrifice,” Saintilus said. “I wouldn’t be here without them, passing me the ball, screening, playing defense, executing plays, everything they’ve done has helped me become the player I am today.”
The collective effort made the feeling of being a champion even better.
“Looking around and just seeing my teammates happy and knowing the stuff they sacrificed as well, you know, as much as I wanted to win, I wanted to win for them,” Saintilus said. “Everyone sacrificed, put time in, day in, day out, so it was just a good feeling seeing my teammates see their hard work pay off.
Although the season came to a close with a loss to Keene State on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Saintilus had already bolstered his legacy at Clark. He finished his career with 1,560 points, which is ninth highest in program history, and he helped end a 15-year wait for NEWMAC title.
Saintilus concluded, “It’s a good feeling to be part of history.”
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