Successful business trip to Milwaukee

This weekend, the basketball team went to Milwaukee to play in the All-Engineers Classic at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. We stayed at a hotel about 20 minutes from the gym and every meal was paid for. But what made the weekend even more enjoyable was the fact that we won both games.

In our first game, we faced Claremont Mudd-Scripps, a 20-win team last season who had everyone but their point guard returning. They had an All-American guard in Tyler Gaffney, who we kept under wraps by using quick guards Devon Allen, Isaiah Roux and Joey Hurless to stay in front of him. We won the game by two, and I played my first seconds as a college basketball player.

That night, we went out to eat at Buca di Beppo’s, an Italian restaurant. However, the restaurant that we had originally had reservations for was over-booked, so we couldn’t find a seat. Instead, we drove 45 minutes across town to another Buca di Beppo’s, where we ate great Italian food and had some good laughs.

Sunday’s game was a little different; the game was close until the last few minutes, when we started to pull away. We faced the Milwaukee School of Engineering (also a 20-win team last year, with everyone returning) and their preseason first-team All-American forward Austin Stueck. Stueck scored 25 points, but he also took many contested shots in the process. We eventually won by 12, and won the tournament.

It was an interesting experience for me; I’m used to playing the majority of the game, but this weekend I hardly played at all. However, I didn’t even care. It is such a great feeling to be part of a winning team that also has great chemistry.

We really bond well as a team, and the fact that we don’t have one ‘star player’ makes it easier to compete truly as a team. The bus ride home was fun because we knew that we were bringing a trophy back to Ada. I can’t remember the last time that I started a season 2-0, but it has been a long time, and it feels pretty good right now.

What’s important for us is that we keep our focus. Our out-of-conference schedule is a tough one, and we host two tough teams in Adrian and Defiance in the coming week that will test our resilience. I am looking forward to a great season with this team; we made a big step this weekend, for us and the OAC, and I can’t wait to see what more we can accomplish.