Basketball squads in the mix

    The 2008 Bobcat basketball season is leaving both the men’s and women’s team with some questions. Thankfully, these questions come with winning records and both teams still having a chance to finish with a flurry.
    GCSU men’s basketball is ranked third in the Peach Belt Conference behind University of South Carolina at Aiken and Augusta State University. Head Coach Terry Sellers is pleased with the team’s undefeated record at home and is hopeful for future conference play.
    “Here we are in the last week of January, and we’re still in contention conference wise,” said Sellers. “We missed a couple of good opportunities because Augusta (State) got beat last night. If we had pulled off that win Saturday we would have been tied for first but we weren’t quite able to do that.”
    Sellers’ concerns lie with the team’s performance away from their home court. A 4-4 away record is no comparison to their eight game winning streak at home.
    “Even though we’ve played some good games on the road, conference wise we’ve got to step up and prove we can take care of business,” Sellers said.
    The next home game is Feb. 2 against Augusta State. With GCSU ranked directly behind Augusta State, there is no mistaking the importance of this match up. Sellers is asking the home crowd to come out for support.
    “We really need a big crowd and all the help we can get. We need some support and energy from the crowd and we just hope to continue to play with the confidence we’ve been playing with at home,” Sellers said.
    The Lady Bobcats have been dealing with concerns since the beginning of the season. Key players have been out of commission for reasons ranging from grades to pregnancy. Despite these setbacks, Head Coach John Carrick is optimistic about the team’s performance so far this year.
    “They are over achieving based upon the talent that they have,” Carrick said. “They’re doing better. I’m pumped. They work well together. They’re playing with a passion night in and night out which is enabling us to compete.”
    Two other teams have four losses in the PBC along with the Lady Bobcats which means the team still has a chance to do well in conference play.
    Carrick’s main goal for the team is to shoot around 45 percent from the floor. He believes this will push the Lady Bobcats over the edge and add a few more marks in the win column. However, his concerns not only lie with the performance of his team on the basketball court, but with the future of his players.
    “I want to see everybody graduate,” Carrick said. “I want to see everyone progress towards a degree and put their picture up in the locker room and just have another bunch of kids out there doing what they need to do.”
    The Lady Bobcats will play Augusta State at the Centennial Center Saturday at 5:30 p.m. the men’s game will follow at 7:30.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 1 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry