Albany, NY - The men's basketball team played in their second game of the season, this time against the Columbia Greene Community College Twins. 

The Panthers started strong, attacking the paint and drilling three pointers. Starting guards Clarence Claiborne, Jr. (Petersburg, VA) and Jalon Munoz (Helotes, TX) combined for 23 points on 9/13 shooting from the field, including 3/7 from deep in the first half.  The duo proved to be too much for the short handed Twins to handle as the Panthers went into half with a 43-20 lead. 

However, the strong performance of the guards wasn't the highlight of the first half; that honor belonged to Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY) who scored his 1,000th point of his career.  Since joining the USCAA, Richards is only the fourth player to accomplish the feat.  Richards was joined by his family and was presented the game ball by head coach Robert Coleman during a timeout to honor his accomplishment. 

In the second half, Richards added 6 more points to his total, which was enough to put him in third place on the all time scoring list.  Apparently Richards was in a record breaking mood because he also had his 91st career block, breaking a tie for the most all-time.  He then went on to finish the game with a game high 6 assists. Head coach Robert Coleman had the following words to say about his superstar junior, "Brett Richards is a phenomenal young man to go along with being a great basketball player. We are all very happy for him!" 

Richards may have climbed through the record books, but the game also saw the first career buckets from three freshmen: K'den Spears (Dover, DE), David Hudson III (Cincinnati, OH), and DJ Bridges (Hamsburg, PA) who combined for 12 total points. 

The Panthers would go on to win the game by a score of 72-53. Coach Coleman was quoted after the game saying, "We were in Columbia Greene's situation just a couple years ago.  Rebuilding, small roster, all freshman.  Since then, we've made winning and losing the right way a priority. I feel like we are getting there."  

The Panthers will travel to SUNY Ulster on Tuesday evening for their next contest. 

How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instgram @ACPHSPanthers or X @ACPHSAthletics. 

Written by Angelo Oddo.