Blazers make a comeback
Will they step up to the challenge?
After an up and down season with plenty
of heartbreakers, the men's Blazers
basketball team finally caught a
spark and rolled toward the Metro
Athletic Conference Tournament
on a seven-game
winning streak.
On Feb. 17, the Blazers
went into battle against
the Brookhaven Bears and
maintained a 20-point lead
throughout the majority of
the game. In the final minutes
of the second half, the
Blazers blew the lead to
a 5-point margin. The team overcame the momentum
swing and held the Bears off, defeating
them 78-72.
With that exciting win, the Blazers jumped
into first place looking towards another division
championship.
In the following game on Feb. 21, the Blazers
continued their winning ways when they dismantled
Lamar State College 63-50. The team
had great support from faculty and student fans.
Coach Tim McGraw said, I felt from the beginning
of the season that we always had a chance
to make it back to the championship.
The Blazers have come a long way since the
beginning of the season. After struggling with
chemistry and players not knowing their roles
for the team, McGraw once again proved how
great he really is as a college coach. It took
awhile for us to finally get the chemistry going
but we finally got it going, he said.
McGraw and his staff turned a dismal team
doomed for failure into a team full of winners
destined for a championship. It has been a full
team effort for the Blazers to get back on track
towards another championship, everyone from
the freshman players to McGraw. All
the players had to realize what their roles
where and execute them to their full potential,
no matter how they felt about
their roles.
McGraw and his coaching staff
have done an excellent job with their
young rookie team. Winning a championship
in the 2005-2006 season,
McGraw and his Blazers already
have a bulls-eye on their backs even
though McGraw only has one player
returning from that championship
team.
The team still has a lot of work to
do before heading into the MAC Tournament
on March 1. The team's defensive
still needs improvement.
They are allowing 72.7 points a game
but in return scoring 78.6 points a game.
They are ranked 25th in the nation in
team scoring.
Although the team has trouble stopping
the opposing team from scoring,
they have excellent rebounders with several
players averaging over 5 rebounds a
game defensively.
McGraw and the Blazers have a great
opportunity to repeat for a Division III
national championship. The Blazers
have the offensive; all that's missing is a
strong defensive.
Defense wins championships, that's
one attribute the team is not showing right now
so let's see if they can step their defense up in the
MAC tournament.
At press time, the Blazers had one more regular
season game to fine-tune their chemistry and
defense against Mountain View College last Saturday.
The first game of the MAC tournament for
the Blazers will be held here at North Lake College
on March. 1, at 6 p.m. McGraw is on his
way to another championship.
The only question left is whether his young
team will step up to the challenge.
—Freddie Brown is a journalism student majoring
in psychology. |
