Shifting into gear

Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2008 in Sports | 0 comments

After opening the season at 1-4 in Canada West, the Spartan men put together a 5-1 run to finish the semester, and are heading into Christmas break with a 6-5 record. The run includes a victory at seventh-ranked Victoria, and puts the Gold and Blue tied for third place in the Pacific division with Simon Fraser, behind British Columbia (10-1), and Victoria (7-4).

The Spartans have high expectations for the second half of the season, and could well be sitting at 10-1 as the boys were either tied or within two points late in four of their five losses (see insert). Though a lack of a true point guard hurt the Spartans to open the season, coach Scott Allen comments “we don’t really have a true natural point guard on our team, so were all learning on how to control the flow once we get up. Our plan is to get the ball inside so as we improve this will happen more consistently.”

While the boys struggled out of the gate, the new and returning Spartans are starting to develop some chemistry on the court, but have been plagued by playing down to weaker teams. “We’ve beaten some weaker teams based just off our talent,” says fourth-year student Steve Benjamins, “but against stronger teams we can’t just rely on that – especially when those teams have just as much or more talent on the court.” The boys will have plenty of time to continue to build that chemistry as they have a month layoff over Christmas break, and will ring in the new year when they host Regina and Brandon on Jan. 2 and 3 at Enarson.