Six experienced seniors give the Bisons an edge for a championship season This year's Bison record proved that they can be successful. Since Coach Morgan's arrival, the Bisons have been making steady improvements. "I have been very pleased with our progress over the past couple of years. We have shown that this basketball program can be a success, " Coach Morgan said. The Bisons started this year with two goals in mind. "We wanted to continue to improve every day and to place ourselves in a position to go to nationals," Coach Morgan said. And they did just that. The Bisons went to nationals for the second time in Harding history. The last time the Bisons went to nationals was in 1987. "To go to nationals was such a great honor. We worked really hard all year and surprised some people with how good we really were," senior Jason Cooper said. Not only were the Bisons successful on the court as a team but many individuals won independent honors. Jason Cooperwas awarded third-team All American and Southwest Region Player of the Year. Cliff Miller was a Southwest Region All-Star. Scott Webb, Brad Daughtry and Kennedy Polidor received Southwest Region Honorable Mention All-Star awards. The Bisons ended the year with a bang. They won the Southwest Region NAIA playoffs by defeating Lyon College. "Winning the NAIA playoffs was a great feeling. It was a great accomplishment for the Bison basketball program. It brought Bison basketball back to where it should be," Webb said. The Bisons, with 24 wins and 6 losses, had their best record ever. The team members brought large amounts of experience with them this year. The six seniors on the team provided much leadership both on and off the court. "These six players put the team before themselves. Their leadership was a very necessary ingredient to our success," Coach Morgan said. "It could be a different senior any night to make the difference for the game. It gave us a stronger team to have different players have good nights," Coach Tim Kirby said. Two players especially made their presence felt. Senior Scott Webb and Sophomore Cliff Miller led the team. When they would say something, everybody would listen. They kept the chemistry of the team high and could be depended upon to take charge and make quick decisions. "This is the closest team I have ever been on. We can really stick together when the going gets tough," Webb said. The future of Bison basketball will move them to the Lone Star Conference. The transition gave the Bisons a tough season with many games on the road. Even though some of the Bison losses were to old AIC teams, Coach Morgan felt confident about the future. "The Lone Star Conference is the toughest division by far in this area. We will not have to raise our level of competition very much, but we will have to continue at our present level ," Coach Morgan said. Even though it was a little disappointing for the Bisons to lose in the first round of nationals, they are excited about their future. "We played tough this year and we know that we deserved to go to nationals. We earned some respect this year, " Cooper said. After this a championship season, next year looks bright for another chance at nationals. - Heather Allison Men 's Basketball. First Row: Zach Pauley, laRon Poulian, BradDaughtry, Sammy Ussery, CliffMiller, J.J. Brown, Scott Webb. Second Row: Coach Jeff Morgan, Ray Lynn Woods (trainer), John Richard Duke, lance Horton, Jason Cooper, Brent Adams, FredHudson, Kennedy Polidor, Calvin Bowens, Paul Johnson (graduate assistant), Coach Tim Kirby. Photo by JeffMontgomery.
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