2008 Woodie Awards
Men's basketball tourney hopes fade, season ends
College Days Staff
|
The Red Hawks ended the season 6-9 in conference and 7-14 overall, giving Head Coach of Men's Basketball Bob Gillespie his second losing season in over 20 years.
The men's basketball team struggled in a number of games including those against Grinnell College, St, Norbert College and Carroll College.
"There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal, and right now we are wounded," says team captain and team leading scorer junior Bo Johnson a few weeks ago.
Though they played strong against Monmouth.
With only seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 99 points a piece, junior David McMullen dished out a pass to Johnson, who hit one of his six three pointers as time practically expired to clip the Scotts 102 to 99.
"Ha, it was great. Dave threw me the ball and I shot it, just like we planned," says Johnson. "It was an unbelievable feeling."
Going into the last game of the season, the feeling of accomplishment re-emerged in their game against Beloit, and though they lost 70 to 80, it put the Red Hawks into a two-way tie for fifth place in the Midwest Conference.
The season wasn't as successful as the team would have liked.
"The season wasn't very good," says sophomore Chris Kellett. "We struggled to play together at times."
Most of the games lost were close, and not making it into the tournament was a hard blow.
"We lost a couple of close games in the beginning and it came back to haunt us," Kellett says.
Though the season may not be the most memorable competition, many team members will fondly remember the season and look to next year's.
"We will definitely be contenders, with a good core group of players returning," says Johnson.
One aspect that the team can focus on more for next year's season is working together.
"Playing together more and getting to understand people's abilities will help," says Johnson.
Kevin Rose contributed to this report.