Men’s basketball opens up the preseason with back-to-back losses, expectations
Posted by The Skyliner on November 11th, 2009Billy Cannada
Staff Writer
The North Greenville men’s basketball team opened up its preseason with losses to Division I schools Presbyterian and UNC Wilmington. The Crusaders opened in dramatic fashion against Presbyterian, having a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds.
A three-point attempt by Paul Harrison, sophomore health promotion and wellness, would not fall, and North Greenville fell 60-57. The Crusaders struggled more in their second exhibition game against UNC Wilmington, committing 28 turnovers in an 80-43 loss.
“(Against Presbyterian) our guys played hard and gave a good effort, but we were out-hustled and took poor shots (against UNC Wilmington),” head coach Chad Lister said.
Guard Luke Lattimer, freshman sport management, who led the Crusaders in scoring with 19 points against Presbyterian, said that although the squad hasn’t gotten a win, he still feels confident about the team’s overall performance going into the regular season.
“For having a lot of young players, we showed plenty of character in our first couple outings,” Lattimer said. “We looked promising.”
Despite being winless so far this pre-season, Lister feels there is plenty of reason for optimism.
“This was a wake-up call for our guys,” Lister said. “We have a talented group, and we need to continue to improve and play hard.”
This Crusader team will show an entirely different look than that of last season, having added nine freshmen to the roster. Kyler Vitko, senior business administration, will be the only starter for North Greenville who is not a freshman or sophomore.
Although this is an expectantly young team, the team is expecting the freshman to fit nicely into the program.
“The freshman should fit into the offense extremely well,” guard Zach Shields, sophomore accounting, said. “They should be able to step up and give us some quality minutes this season.”
The freshman, however, won’t be the only new addition to this Crusader team in the 2009-2010 season. Lister has implemented a new offense that he believes will benefit North Greenville.
“We want to teach our guys how to think on the floor,” Lister said. “We want to play to our strengths inside, and hopefully give our shooters more opportunities on the perimeter.”
The remodeling of this Crusader team has Lister and his players expecting bigger and better things this season.
“We want to be the first team to win 20 games since North Greenville became a four-year university,” Lister said. “We want to set ourselves up to compete in the National Christian College Tournament, and ultimately, the NCAA Division II tournament.”
Harrison, who led the Crusaders in scoring last season, echoed Lister’s goals for the team and says that this North Greenville squad can be very successful this season.
“We definitely want to get to the tournament, which will probably require 20 wins,” Harrison said. “We need to play hard, play smart and do what coach wants us to do in order to get where we want to be.”
The Crusaders will open up their season with a six-game home stint beginning Nov. 16 against Toccoa Falls in Hayes Gymnasium.
Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 9