By Kaylin Johnson, Intern Sports Information
(Morrisville, NY – Feb. 6, 2014) Once again the record books for the Morrisville men’s basketball team continues to shake, as senior forward Kucjok Ater (Syracuse N.Y.) hit his mark on reaching his 1,000th career point for the Mustangs this year. We already have seen his teammate Brandon Hanks (Syracuse N.Y.) do the same this season and for the basketball team in general it has been two great accomplishments for both players to reach the milestone in all of Morrisville State athletics.
Ater is the fourth player in program history to achieve the goal of 1,000 career points, but is also the second player in his four year tenure as a Division III student-athlete to reach the successful milestone.
Ater scored his 1,000th career point on Tuesday during the second period, against non-conference opponent SUNY Canton where he was fouled and sent to the line to make the amazing shot. The Mustangs then called a timeout to congratulate the senior and finished with a win against SUNY Canton 76-70. The senior is also in the reigns of setting another record for the Mustangs, by the amount of games he has played since the beginning of his college career for the Mustangs.
Ater is also adding to his resume this season with good play all around from the floor with a total of 213 field goals made, 559 rebounds and assist total of 140. Ater is helping the Mustangs move right along in the All-North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), ranking second in conference play behind Lancaster Bible who is leading with a 9-1 conference record this season.
Ater has played a key role as one of the dominating upperclassmen, to lead the Mustangs with a well-deserved record of 12-6. The Mustangs can look to continue strong with their remaining schedule before trying to peruse the NCAA Tournament. After being there for the previous two seasons they look to make a run back to the tourney. Ater in the Mustangs two seasons competing in the tournament, earned second team all-conference honors in 2011-12 and was named third team ALL-NEAC.
Ater played three seasons for Coach Evans at Bishop Grimes as a forward, starting two. He is majoring in end user support at Morrisville State, and is the son of Persikila Depmac.