The hard :-· ' Winter meant the beginning of the "rowdiest" sport on campus, with hundreds of spectators crowding into the Rhodes Field House to see fast-paced, highaction competition in one of its most popular sports: basketball. Though the Bisons' men's basketball team lost a few key seniors the previous year, nothing would slow down the stamina of the 2010-11 team. With 2010 graduatesTrent Morgan and Matt Garner no longer on the team, other players were quick to step in to fill their shoes and help contribute to the team's early successes.The Bisons were 5-1, their only loss by two points at an away game against Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Though conference play had not yet begun, sophomore guard Bradley Spencer and senior guard Stephen Blake were on top of their games and playing strongly, according to their teammates. Sentor power forwards Kevin Brown and Sam Brown also seemed very confident in their abilities this year. Blake led the team in seat-ing early in the season. The Bisons' success did not come overnight, however; training ,began long before they ever stepped out on the court. finally - pays off "We've been gett ing ready forth is for a long time," Brown said. "We've been working our tails off all off-season, running, lifting weights, watching film and working on our individual as well as our team game." The hard work paid off. With the team's concentration on endurance, they were known for pulling ahead of their opponents in the fourth quarter of the game. Of course, the men realized that in order to achieve their potential, they must not be too confident too soon. "We're doing good up to this point, but we're not going to let up at all," Spencer said. "We have a long way to go, and we haven't even started conference play yet. I think the thing that will ultimately separate us from the competition this year, though, is how bad we want it. I know everybody wants to win, but we want it bad." Coach Jeff Morgan agreed with Spencer, saying that, through losing a few leaders on the court, other players had stepped up to make the team stronger as a whole. Morgan said he had high hopes for t he season, and t he players had really been work ing hard for it. They all believed it would pay off in the long run, giving the Bisons their famous reputation and a place in the record books. }ames Taylor Row 1: D. Morgan, W jameson, M. Walters, B. Spencer, S. Blake, S. Brown, l Kirby, J. Carter. Row 2:! Morgan (coach). N. Ramirez. C. Davis, K Porter, M.Ragsdale, L Cannon, l Roddenberry, H. johnson, J. Layrocl<, K Brown, R Teel, B. Burton ,R Sanchez. R Woods (coach). men's basketball 303 ~
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