Two AACC alumni made the first-ever men’s basketball team at Notre Dame of Maryland University last fall.

Marquis James and Mike Duffy, friends and now roommates at NDMU, both play forward for the inaugural men’s basketball team.

“It’s been really fun,” Duffy, who is 6 feet, 4 inches, said. “It’s made it really easy to settle in because me and him already came in with chemistry. We talk to each other about stuff all the time. We help each other get better.”

The Gators finished the first half of the season with a 1-8 record.

“So far, I’m not going to lie, it’s been pretty rough. … But we’re getting better and better,” Duffy said. “It doesn’t feel like there’s too much [pressure] because it’s our first year. We kind of ignore that and we always say, ‘We don’t care that it’s our first year. We’re ready to win now.’”

AACC men’s basketball head coach Joe Snowden said James and Duffy were “really good players and really good teammates” as Riverhawks and said he is “proud and happy for them.”

“They started playing together their freshman year and they formed a great relationship that lasts now,” Snowden said. “They became real good friends. They use that friendship now to inspire each other to continue to play better.”

James, who is 6 feet, 4 inches, had originally committed to Pennsylvania State University Berks, but decided he wanted to stay closer to his hometown, Baltimore. James said he has enjoyed the season so far.

“It’s actually pretty fun to start the year off and lay the foundation of the team,” James said. “It’s a lot of young guys, but we have to come together to build a good program.”

James said he is glad to have Duffy on the court.

“It’s great to have someone that knows me,” James said. “It kind of makes it easier for each other on the basketball court and off the basketball court.”

NDMU men’s basketball head coach T.J. Jordan said he is “excited” the university created the team.

“It’s something new,” Jordan said. “I told all the guys it wasn’t going to be easy. We’re setting a foundation now, and we’ll continue to grow and come together. The biggest challenge is just being new, but I’ve been telling them to embrace it as being the first.”

Jordan said Duffy and James are “two exceptionally great individuals.”

“They’re great teammates and leaders by example,” Jordan said. “They’re playing hard and they’re doing a fantastic job. At the beginning of the season especially, one was basically looking for the other. You can definitely see that there was some chemistry from before.”

Snowden said any new basketball team has to “get broken in.”

“Notre Dame … is going to be the little guy,” Snowden said. “It’s going to take time for any new program to es