SCOREBOARD Southeastern Oklahoma University I 60-70 L East Central University I 54-58 L Christian Brothers University I 71-79 L NorthwesternOklahoma State University I 57-79 L SouthwesternOklahoma State University I 70-71 L Lemoyne-Owen College I 67-81 L Christian Brothers University I 59-74 L Western Washington University I 76-80 L Hawai'i Pacific University 172-79 L SouthernNazarene University I 67-89 L Oklahoma Baptist University I 93-100 L Southern Arkansas University I 55-88 L Ouachita Baptist University I 77-73 W Arkansas Tech University I 94-98 L Henderson State University I 81-85 L University of Arkansas at Monticello I 62-90 L East Central University I 69-94 L Southeastern Oklahoma State University I 73-67 W SouthwesternOklahoma State University I 90-89 W NorthwesternOklahoma State University I 73-82 L Oklahoma Baptist University I 72-69 W Southern NazareneUniversity I 60-82 L Ouachita Baptise University I 67-91 L SouthernArkansas University I 67-61 W Arkansas Tech University I 63-70 L University of Arkansas at Moncicello I 71-75 L Henderson State University I 83-91 L Adverse season conditions created playing time for young athletes. A midst a season of injury and the struggle to finish games, several first-year players were called to step up and play key minutes for the Harding men's basketball team. Sophomores forward Brandon Reeves and guard Tyler Roth were among those first-year players and had to move up in the line-up faster than most new players traditionally do by playing as freshmen during the 2017-18 season. Men's Basketball H ead Coach Jeff Morgan said the development of these players had to progress quickly because of the circumstances. "Obviously, we had some really key injuries,"Morgan said. "Three of them put us behind the eight-ball to begin the year, and we were a relatively young team anyway." Roth and Reeves each played 24 out of the 27 total games Harding played during the season. With this much playing time, both said they were challenged and forced to play above their experience level. "It's a much faster pace, and guys are a lot stronger,' Reeves said. "It really pushed us to be better players, and I think we can pass chat onto this year's freshmen who hopefully won't have to worry about it as much." The team did not have the season that they hoped. They finished 5-22 and came up short in many close matches. "We obviously did not have as good of a year as we were hoping, but I think it was a positive in that the freshmen, and some of the underclass guys got to really gain a lot of experience, which is really going to carry over to the next three years of our careers here," Roth said. With this experience, the first-year players expanded their game on the court as they had to adapt to different in-game situations. Reeves, who usually played at the small or power forward position, had to play at center and went against much bigger opponents due to injuries to the basketball team's front court, senior forward Gojko Djokovic and junior forward J.P. Brandon. "Since I was one of the taller guys on the team [last] year, I had to step in for them and learn that position like really, really quickly," Reeves said. Reeves said this positional shift was a challenge, and he had difficulties but grew as a player. Reeves and Roth attributed their consistency and hard play to help from veteran players. "The biggest [influence] for me last year was Reggie Anthony," Roch said. "He plays the same position as me, and honestly, having him on the court was just really important." Reeves said Djokovic and Brandon coached him, as he had to play in a position where he did not have as much experience. "They got onto me whenever I made freshman mistakes, like I expected them to do, and I'm really thankful that they did because it [got] me where I am at now," Reeves said. This season changed the two on and off of the court as well. Roth and Reeves said they became better communicators and team leaders because of their experience. "I'm more vocal as a person outside of basketball because of this," Reeves said. "This [season] helped me mature a lot on the court and off." story by Parker Samuel 243 I MEN'S BASKETBALL
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