Men's Basketball ready to start conference

The Braves lost 101-75 against Missouri Southern State University on Nov. 30 to put their record in 4-6.

The Braves, who have been battling some key players’ injuries since the beginning of the season, will begin conference games tomorrow when they visit Friends University.

The memory of the loss to Sterling College in the semifinals of last season’s KCAC tournament is still fresh in their memories.

Coach Andy Carrier thinks that if they can get healed up and keep working they can make a good run in the KCAC this year and win it to go to the national tournament. That is their goal. “I think it is a realistic goal for this team, a goal for which we’re excited about,” Coach Carrier said.

Carrier explained that the team struggled a little bit in the beginning of the season because the players had to adjust because of the loss of the top two leading scorers, Chase Diepel and Cory Smith. “Every team is a little bit different,” Carrier said. “We expect to be more balanced this year. We had to figure out where our points were going to come from.”

Carrier explained that the team is running a new offense this season. “It’s been fun for us, but we’re not close to what we can be offensively right now,” Carrier said. “We are kind of a work in progress.”

After the first home game Carrier said he started to see how the pieces were starting to come together.

He said they have had to rely on their defense and moving the basketball, sharing it until they figured out their offensive system, getting to know each other.

Carrier said they are still trying to play fast. “We like playing an up-tempo basketball, but if we don’t get a good shot in transition, we’re trying to get the ball moving,” he said.

Carrier said he really likes his players and that they have a good chemistry. Junior Colin Nichols agreed, saying that they are much more of a team than what they were last year. “We are friends and enjoy playing with each other,” he said. “We lost some great players last year, but I’m completely confident that our team this year will make up for the absence of talent.”

For Nichols, the team was missing cohesiveness on the court and was trying to figure out how to play efficiently, effectively and smoothly with one another.

However, he also thinks the team can have good year in the KCAC.

“Our goals are pretty clear. We definitely expect to win conference this year, getting a bid for nationals. We don’t see ourselves doing anything else,” he said.