With 15 games to go before the national tournament, the men’s basketball team is pushing to make it to a conference championship game.
In the past two years, the team has gone from 16 to 19 wins and this year the goal was to have 20.
In reflection of the season so far, Coach Michael Giorlando said, ‘I’m a little disappointed, to be honest. Our goal was to try to go undefeated non-conference.’
The team has lost three games by a total of less than 10 points.
‘Two games were lost by one point, and the other we lost by two,’ Giorlando said. ‘We’re 3-3 in our conference right now.’
Giorlando said he feels like the team should have been 5-1 at this point in the season.
Giorlando said the team is staying focused and positive so that these next few games can turn into wins and finish the season on a high-note.
‘I think they need to get better on the road,’ Lee Slan III, mass communication sophomore and public announcer for the home games, said about their performance at away games. ‘They’ve only lost one conference game at home.’
Slan said he noticed that the student body is more visible and supportive of the team only for the home games.
Jennifer Dignan, mass communication sophomore, said, ‘It’d be nice if (the school) started supporting the team more for away games, not just the ones at home.’
She said that at the home games, the majority of students dress in school colors, wear their Maroon Platoon shirts and many students place a paw print on their cheek signifying their support.
‘The season is far from over,’ Sean Bennet, one of the three team captains and management senior, said. ‘It’s going to come down to us wanting it more than the other teams.’
The top six of the total 10 teams are automatically in the conference tournament; the bottom four are in a play-in game. The winners of the two play-in games make up the conference tournament. The teams ranking number 10 and eight play each other, then the winner plays the ninth team and so on.
If the team wins the regular season conference championship, they will automatically go to the tournament. Then, if the team wins the conference tournament, they’ll go to nationals.
‘We’ll go to nationals this year,’ Bennett said.
The men’s team has not been to the national tournament since the mid-90s but Bennett believes the team just needs to stay focused.
‘The season is very long and it’s hard sometimes to have everyone on the team stay motivated all day, everyday. If we can stay together as a team and pick each other up there is no reason we won’t win conference,’ Bennett said.
Bennett said he knows that the team has talent and the few losses they have had are not indicators that they’re not good players.
‘ ‘ ‘
Julia Russler can be reached at
‘
