Men's basketball to finish conference strong

The Ottawa University men’s basketball team lost 88 to 68 to Friends University on Saturday Jan. 25 at Wilson Field House.

This was the third loss in a row for the Braves, who are about to face the last part of their calendar, trying to get a good seed for the conference tournament.

Coach Andy Carrier said the team has been up and down all year.

“We have had some good stretches, but right now we are going through a negative stretch,” Carrier said. “It’s been a little bit of a challenging time for us right now.”

Junior Colin Nichols said they are underperforming right now.

“We have a lot more talent than what is currently being shown and what our record says,” Nichols said. “If we stay on this track we are not going to get anywhere close to our goals.”

Carrier said he is confident because his team has all the parts, even though it has been challenged this year.

“We have had a really unique challenge, the injury bug,” Carrier said. “Several of our back court players have not played much all year, so there have been some opportunities for our younger guys.”

Sophomore Riley Falk said he likes how the team has stayed together, especially through this rough stretch they have had lately.

“There is great love and support among all of us teammates, which is great,” he said.

Carrier said the team has struggled to score the ball lately.

“There is a little bit of a slump offensively, but we have seen some flashes this year,” he said. “We have shown that we can guard and that we can score the basketball too. We have just been a little inconsistent lately.”

Carrier explained that the young players stepped up and gave him good play, but there is still inconsistency.

“If we can get everybody to play well in the same night, we are capable of playing and beating anybody in the league,” he said. “We have to get some confidence back and we need to string some wins and play well at the right time as we go down the stretch towards the conference tournament.”

Carrier said that they had success in the beginning of the season because of their pace on the floor. “We were really pushing the pace and playing fast during the first games of the season,” he said.

Falk said he felt they had a good start to the season by beating a couple bigger schools and hanging in close with several others. “The conference season has not gone quite as well as I had expected but it is not even close to over so we just have to keep battling,” he said.

Carrier said he thinks they did not intentionally slow down, but that it occurred when they were worrying about their depth. “When we slowed it down was when we started to struggle,” he said. “We play our best when we are pushing the pace. That is what we have been working on in the past few days of practice, getting our aggresiveness back, trying to push the ball up the floor.”

Carrier explained he had to extend some minutes with guys like Kameron Lindsay and Julian Rose. “They have been fantastic for us, but they are playing about 40 minutes a game,” he said.

Carrier said they are a deep team, probably the biggest team in the conference, highlighting they one of the best of the nation for blocked shots and rebounds.

However, Carrier said they have had some stretches when their front line got a little soft.

“We are trying to get their aggressiveness back too. We do have some depth there, so we do not have to worry about as much trouble or that kind of stuff,” he said.

Nichols said each individual needs to find out what their roles are and, as a team, we play harder, play with a purpose, and play for each other.

Falk agrees, saying they can change their effort and pride. “We have to start playing like every game is our last game because for our seniors it is coming to an end fast,” he said. “We have to bring maximum energy each night and continue playing for each other.”

Finally, Falk said they appreciate the support they have had from the students at their home games and hopes that support continues through the rest of the season.