A cool 1,000 points for men’s basketball player

Acacia O' Connor Staff Writer

Not all great achievements are met with sufficient ceremony. This was true for point guard Judson Winton ’05. Winton scored his 1,000th point of his Vassar College Men’s basketball career in an unfortunate loss to Union College on Jan. 15. Those watching the game would never have known the milestone had occurred. The team was hardly celebratory after losing their second league game of the weekend, 82-69.

Winton, a native of San Francisco, California, is no stranger to setting records. Winton’s name appears over a dozen times and nearly in every field of the men’s basketball all-time individual record board. Besides placing eigth in the program for all-time scoring, Winton also has the highest field goal percentage and second highest three point field goal percentage in program history, and is also third in all-time points per game average.

Anyone who has seen him play could hardly be surprised. His combination of deep shooting, lightning fast foot speed, strength and amazing moves makes Winton as fun to watch as he is difficult to guard. Despite his personal skill and achievement, Winton remains grounded and a selfless team player, whom his teammates and coaches look to on and off the floor.

“Honestly [Winton] doesn’t even care about his stats; he only wants to win,” said teammate Will Kiefer ’07. “Like I kept asking him about the 1,000 points and he had a vague idea but wasn't really sure what he needed.”

When asked about Winton’s style as a player, Coach Mike Dutton said, “Jud is a ‘gym rat’ type of kid, always wants to play or work on his game. He leads the team by example; he works hard in practice and usually wins most team sprints.”

When asked about his career at Vassar and the milestone, Winton responded, “I actually didn’t know I had scored 1,000 points, until I talked to my dad the night after the Union game. I knew I was close, but I didn’t know that I had gotten it.”

Winton, a political science major, says he has utterly enjoyed his days playing at Vassar and will continue to make basketball a part of his life after college by coaching in his hometown. Of all his years at Vassar, however, this year ranks first: “This year’s team is definitely the favorite team I’ve been on at Vassar and the best. We added a lot of new players who are contributing and have good attitudes and everyone is putting the team first and playing with unselfish attitudes.”

Winton was honored before the team’s next home game with the presentation of a ball memorializing his achievement. The game, in which the Brewers faced league foe Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, served as a far better example of the team’s hard work, skill, and strength to persevere. The Brewers held off the Engineers late in the game to prevail in the one-point victory, 59-57. The win served to relieve the pressure of the opening weekend of league play, where the men lost to both Union and Skidmore in close games.

Since returning from break, the team has had strong showings in non-conference games as well as league play. In their first game in over a month, the Brewers rallied in the second half to defeat a relentless Delaware Valley team. Vassar placed six players in double figures in the win, including four-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week Larry Avitabile, who led the team with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Other contributors were Seth Taft ’05 with 15 points, Winton with 12, Kiefer with 11, and Tyson Brazell ’08 with 10.

In their following game, the Brewers dominated an inferior SUNY Purchase squad in a 97-60 blowout. Fine shooting proved the key to Vassar’s success as the team shot an amazing 55 percent from the field in the first half. While Avitabile, Taft and Winton were again the greatest contributors to the scoring frenzy, strong performances off the bench were also key. Evan Hannay ’07 led the bench with eight points and two rebounds, while Ross Weingarten ’07 and Daniel Forcella ’08 added seven points each.

The Brewers will look to use both their non-conference experience and their early disappointments to their advantage as they head into the rest of their conference games this month. Fans can hope to take part in several more exciting battles, as the team will continue to face tough foes in their quest for the post-season.

“The rest of the season is going to be a battle.” said Dutton. “Every game will be highly contested, as there is much parity amongst the Liberty League this year. We're looking forward to the challenge, as I, and the team knows we can compete with and beat every team in our league.”

The Brewers will be fighting hard this month, but win or lose there is no doubt they will face each day as a team.