Bison Basketball

Basketball has obviously been a passion of mine for most of my life. Now that I am only left with city league and pick-up basketball, I find myself becoming more and more just a fan. I love watching games on my TV, online viewing the stats, the radio, and most of all live. During the break I had the opportunity to Travel to Memphis and Southaven, Mississippi to watch Harding finish out the regular season and play in the conference championship game of the GSC tournament. I went with several great guys and the trip was very fun.

The guys played Christian Brothers University in both games, which has always provided entertaining games. They play a different style than Harding so the clash of styles makes for interesting discussion to and from the games. In a very brief recap, we lost both games. Their center is a long, smooth player that never really seems to move very quickly or play with a sense of urgency. He is a great rebounder and has a good defensive presence in the middle. The rest of the front line is strong and physical, often getting away with holds and pushes underneath. We played well in both games at times but their slow down style and good defensive rebounding limited our possessions.

Since we did not win the conference tournament, Christian Brothers received the automatic bid to the national tournament. Harding received a 6 seed in the 8 team South Region as an at-large team. We play Tampa later this week in the first round.

I was very proud to be a Bison following the game, even though we suffered the defeat. The commissioner of the GSC talked about both teams and their accomplishments but focused more on Harding. He spoke of the character of the coach, Jeff Morgan, and the players. He spoke of the great atmosphere of the Rhodes Fieldhouse and the Rhodes Rowdies. He spoke of the campus and the great people that are there. What a compliment! It feels very good to be a part of a university and a program that receives such accolades, even in defeat.

Of course I would love for Harding to go far in the tournament this year. I would love to see Matt Hall take this team further than we have ever gone and break a few more records along the way. However, I think that this season has been a success, no matter the outcome.