Men’s Basketball
November 12, 2014
The men’s basketball team passed their first test in a scrimmage with Elizabethtown College.
Last year, the Cougars made it to the MAC Finals but fell short against DeSales in overtime.
This season, with five seniors leading the team, they expect big results.
Sophomore guard Andrew Moran thought the scrimmage showed what the team is doing well on now and what they need to improve on before the actual season starts in November.
“It was nice to see where we stand as a team. We still have a lot of work to prepare for our first game, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we will be ready,” said Moran.
Senior Patrick Widdoss said he knows that hard work will lead to wins.
“The scrimmage was a good learning experience for the team. There were some positives we took away from it but over all we realized there is a ton of room for improvement.”
Sophomore forward Tyler Bernath said the scrimmage offered learning opportunities.
“The freshman showed great potential,” said Bernath. “It also helps the five seniors leading the team. We have a long season ahead of us and have a lot of goals along the way to accomplish. We’re on our way to see how far past the MAC Championship we can get, in the NCAA Tournament, but we have a lot to accomplish in order to reach our goals for this coming season, which I know we can do.”
Sophomore guard Mike Brunson said he feels good about the upcoming season.
“The Scrimmage against Elizabethtown had a lot of good things that weren’t present in our first scrimmage last year. It definitely helps having five seniors on the team this year. It will be one to remember for sure,” Brunson said.
Shooting guard Jamie Egan said the scrimmage showed the players that they are prepared.
“It was a good test to show us as a team where we are. We still have a lot of work to do before our first game, but we will be ready. “
Senior point guard Joe Buscocca is optimistic about the season.
“We got to see the freshman in their first game experience so it was a great seeing them play. We have a long way to go but this was a step in the right direction and we will only get better.”
Senior center Cael Evans said he was ready to start the season.
“The scrimmage at Elizabethtown went well and it was a great opportunity for us as a team to see how much we developed and learned in the last two and a half weeks of preseason. Obviously, there were a lot of mistakes with the guys mixing up plays or lack of communication at times but your going to have that, especially this early in the season. I loved the effort each and every one of us played with and this was a great step forward for us as a team to start climbing to where we want to be when March comes around.”
The team will host a scrimmage against Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Anderson Center.
The men’s basketball team kicks off their season Nov. 15 and 16 on the road. The first game against Adrian will tip-off at 4:30 pm.
The following day the team will go head-to-head with either Widener at 4:30 p.m. or Penn State Lehigh Valley at 6:30 p.m.