Men Face First Defeat

The men's basketball team saw their first loss of the season on November 16 against Fresno Pacific (76-84). It was a hard game to watch. The entire women's basketball team (except maybe those who had family visiting) stayed to watch the entire game and cheer on our men. We sacrificed our stomachs, waiting through the men's game and half of the other women's game before getting food. Needless to say, we were all REALLY hungry by the time we were fed.

I was frustrated that our team could not play defense. For some reason, they couldn't seem to keep the ball in front of them. Also, when you are used to shooting high percentages and then only shoot 18.2 percent from behind the arc, it can be a major bummer to the spectators. OIT made just 3-19 threes.

Josh Wetzler also sat out most of the game, including the whole second half. From what I heard, it was his decision to not play the rest of the game, so it must have hurt pretty bad--my understanding is that he got kneed really hard just above the knee, giving him a 'dead leg'. What is a bummer is that he only played 10 minutes and already had 14 points! Could that have been the difference? We'll never know. But, I do know that the bench is deep enough to come in and give the team great support and step up when they need to.

Now, I have no idea where I get my facts--through the grapevine I guess--but I heard that OIT has beat Fresno Pacific the last 6 times they have played them. So, knowing that, the excuse that Fresno Pacific is an NAIA DI school has no grounds. Besides, we only lost by 8.

The next day, playing for third place against William Jessup in a 4-team tournament, was a little different. The men were up by a relatively comfortable lead with less than 10 minutes to go. I remember standing next to Jenni Miiller, watching the game. She said something like, "oh they got it. The game's over" (trying to be supportive). Me, of course, replied "oh it's not over yet. They're only up by (whatever #) and they still have 7 minutes left to play." She told me not to jinx them. I apologized and quickly agreed with her; but it was too late. A few minutes down the road, William Jessup was catching up. We ended up winning by 2, a very small margin. Maybe it was something I said...

But, a win is a win and you learn from it. I also have to add that Jguwon Hogges had a dunk on a breakaway steal! It was amazing. I did not know he could dunk, and the best part was that his mother was in the stands yelling "that's my baby!" It was great.