Basketball squads shoot for success in second half of season

The second half of the season for the men’s basketball team is currently underway.

Not only do the Eagles hope to make a playoff appearance, but they also want to come out as champions of the Freedom conference. As conference champions, the team would earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.

The season is winding down, but the Eagles are in great shape to secure a conference playoff berth, the first step to reaching the national tournament.

“We only have a few more conference games left,” said sophomore guard Martin Soaries who leads the team in scoring. “At this point last year we were battling to get into the playoffs. Right now, as the two seed, we can still win it. It would be huge if we could host a home conference game.”

Last season, the team could not close out games at home during the final stretch of the season, and, as a result, had to go on the road for the first game of the playoffs. Soaries stressed the importance of not allowing the same thing to happen this year.  

“We have to take care of business at home,” Soaries said. “That was sort of our downfall last year. We lost our last two home games last year. That ended up being the difference last year to not hosting a home playoff game.”

Finishing the season strong is the goal, but home court would be a huge advantage.
“It is real important because going on the road traveling is tough,” junior forward Derek Wright said. “It is always hard to play in the other team’s gym.”

With senior captain Chris Myers as the general on the floor, and Soaries and Wright on the wings, the Eagles will use the experience they gained last season to help with the playoff push.
“We just come out every time and fight,” Wright said. “We have to keep that intensity up if we want to make this happen.”