Students filled the bleachers. Shouts and cheers rang out across the gymnasium. The bouncing of the basketballs matched the pounding of the teams’ hearts as the anticipation built during warm-ups. Finally the time has come— the season has officially begun.
Sophomore Clayton Winter said actually playing against other people makes all the hard practices worth it, because that’s what they have been looking forward to all semester. Having support from the community only added onto the excitement he expressed when they faced off against Covenant College.
“Playing is what kind of gets your adrenaline going,” Winter said. “It’s good to get the season started, and now we’re on to the next one.”
Junior Caleb Wallis found himself in foul trouble but since the Eagles came out victorious, he feels happy with the win.
“I feel like we competed hard and played well,” Wallis said, “…It makes it a lot more fun for us when we’ve got a packed-out crowd.”
The basketball team made a point before their season began to support other sports such as soccer and volleyball. Graduate student Nick Fort said it made a world of a difference to have that encouragement reciprocated.
“Having a lot of the student body out was great, showing their support…I love that we had a full crowd tonight,” he said.
Another aspect the men adored about their game was how well they worked together as one cohesive unit. Basketball is a sport that requires teamwork and chemistry. Junior Bryce Beavers said that “it went really well.”
“I think the team chemistry is there,” he said. “I feel like in the first half we came out pretty strong and solid. We let them back in the game, but I think we are bound for a good season.”
