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February 19, 2010 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 SPORTS Bishoops Beat CNU, Strengthen Hold on Conference Lead By Decree Sports Staff Update: The Bishops took another step toward a regular-season conference championship, spanking the Methodist Monarchs, 93-63, Saturday in Fayetteville. With 19 points, guard Trey Drake led an offensive attack that featured five players in double figures. The victory, the team’s eighth straight, improved the NCWC record to 9-1 and kept the Bishops two games ahead of Shenandoah in the USA South Conference. Conference leader Trey Drake scored 30 points and Alphonzo Frazier grabbed 14 rebounds as the Bishops won a key USA South match-up, 90-80, before a fired-up home crowd February 6. Wesleyan followed that win with a victory three days later at Everett Gymnasium, coming back from a 13-point half-time deficit to edge the Greensboro Pride, 79-78. The wins solidified NC Wesleyan’s first-place lead in the USA South Conference—two and a half games over Shenandoah—and extended its winning streak to seven. The Bishops improved to 8-1 in the conference and 12-9 overall, making them the only team in the confer ence with an overall winning record. In beating CNU, the Bishops avenged their lone conference loss, 89- 79, on January 13 in Newport News. Drake (19 ppg) was deadly from the three-point arc, making 6 of 12 shots while recording three steals and four assists. In one game-changing, second-half play, he lofted an alley-oop pass to forward Alex Murray, whose thunderous dunk brought the crowd of 300-plus to its feet, forced the CNU coach to call a timeout, and chilled the ensuing play of the Captains, who dropped to 4-4, or three games behind the Bishops. “That was an exciting play,” Coach John Thompson said. “That particular set play is the baseline for almost everything we do offensivel There are several options off that set, but when you get the lob dunk, it is exciting. In Saturday’s game, I thought it was particularly good for our fans and helped to get some energy going in the crowd.” The alley-oop was one of many slick passes thrown by Drake. “We have a deal—he can pass it behind his back, over his head, with a no-look; it just needs to be successful,” his coach said. “Trey has improved so much. He came here with outstanding skills and talent, but he has worked hard to improve. And the thing is, he’s still improving. He has gotten better in the last three or four weeks.” Against the Captains, Drake’s fine play was comple mented by Frazier, who completed a double-double (14 rebounds, 17 points) and provided the strong inside presence needed to counteract CNU’s physical play. "I had to bring extra energy and at tack the glass,” Frazier said. more aggressive, and tougher. We simply made an effort to get the ball in the paint and attack. When we dO that, we’re normally pretty good." Last Wednesday the Bishops fell be hind Greensboro, 41-28, but mounted a strong second-half comeback and took ► Trey Drake drives to the hoop in recent action. Si Photos “We have enough scorers on the team. I figured if I did my part with rebounds, everything would take care of itself.” Recalling the previous CNU game. Coach Thompson said he saw a different Bishops team in the rematch. “We just weren’t very good when we played up there,” he said. “I didn’t think our focus was good. We did not play like the team that you saw on Saturday. We were clearly more determined. the lead with less than a minute left in the game. After Greensboro’s Adam Powell missed two free throws, sophomore forward Domarius Thomas put the Bishops up by one point with a lay-up and a free throw as the clock ticked down to 12 seconds. The Pride in-bounded the ball and, with two seconds left, Wesleyan’s Alex Murray made a game-saving block, rejecting a shot by Chakiris Moss. The rebound almost everytmng we ao ottensiveiv. i.iv, Women’s Basketball Seeks to Rebuild Under New Head Coach Rookie coach Artina Trader has seen her team endure a tough season, her team having lost its first 19 games of the 2009-2010 campaign. Despite her team’s record. Trader has seen several encouraging signs in her team’s overall play, as the Bishops have become more competitive as the season has progressed. And then there’s been the emer gence of freshman forward Samantha Urquhart, whose 12.2 points per game leads the Bishops and puts her 12th among the USA South Conference scoring leaders. She ranks 9th in the conference with 7.9 rebounds per game. Another freshman, forward Imani Graham (8.6 ppg), is the team’s second-leading scorer. The Decree sports staff conducted an email interview with Coach Trader in late January, Q. What drew you to the Wesleyan job? A. The experiences that I had as a student-athlete at Wesleyan made it an easy choice to retum to campus. To be able to work with people who had such a positive impact on my life.. .Coach Brackett and Coach Thompson have been a part of my playing/coaching ex perience since 1995, and the opportunity to work with them was a no-brainer. One Samantha Urquhart thing that hasn’t changed on this campus are good people. Q. What bright spots have you seen so far in your team? A. The improvement over the last few months has been tremendous. We are definitely not the same team that we were in November. We’re playing with more confidence, which has led to us to scoring more points. The first-year Upcoming Intramural Activities Sport/Activity Registration Dates Activity Dates 4-on-4 Flag Football 5-on-5 Basketball Foosball Tournament Group Fitness-Yoga/Pilates Wii Sports Tournaments FitWes: Exercise Across America NCAA Tourney Pick Em Kickball Tournament Sand Volleyball Tournament Fac/Staff Softball Tournament Spring Camping Trip **AII activities subject to participation numbers 2/15 - 2/26 3/8 - 4/21 2/15-2/26 3/8-4/21 2/15 - 2/26 3/8-4/21 n/a T/Th, 3/9 - 3/25 n/a 3/17,3/24, & 3/31 2/22-3/12 3/22 - 4/22 3/15-3/18 NCAA Tourney 3/15 - 3/26 4/1 - 4/21 3/15 - 3/26 4/1 - 4/21 3/15-4/5 4/9-4/11 3/8 - 4/9 4/17-4/18 student-athletes have adapted to the college game, while the veterans are understanding more what it takes to be competitive from game to game. Q. Obviously, the season is off to a rough start. Compared to other teams you’ve played, what are Wesleyan’s most glaring deficiencies? A. We can’t compare ourselves to other teams we have played. We’re laying the foundation to retum this program to the standards of the 90s, when Wesleyan went to two NCAA toumaments. This retum will happen sooner than later but we will use the experiences of this season to get us to where we want to be. Q. What have you been emphasizing in practice? A. Improving on individual and team skills to become better as one unit, also on communicating on the court. Q. What style of play would you like your players to be known for? A. Hard workers who play every possession (offense and defense) like it’s their last. Q. What are your goals for the remainder of the season? A. As with any season, if the record was above .500 or below .5(X), our goal is to improve with each game. There is always room for improvement Q. Talk about the steps that need to be taken to get your team to a .500 level and then become a consistent winner A. To become a consistent winner we will need continued improvement from the returning student-athletes and a suc cessful recruiting class. The combination of veterans and youth should help the program take the needed steps to become an above .500 team. With anything, it will take hard work and that starts with me. I have to do my best to bring in recruiting classes every year that improve us as a unit. Q. What are your primary objectives as you recruit for next season? A. To recruit student-athletes that will make a positive impact on the Wesleyan campus both in the classroom and on the court. came to Greensboro. After a timeout, the inbound pass was thrown to Moss, whose shot missed at the buzzer. It was the second tough contest against Greensboro (2-7 in the conference, 9-13 overall) this season, as the Bishops edged the Price, 74-70, on the road January 16. On Wednesday, Thomas and Janiiel Arrington each recorded 14 points to lead a Bishops attack that saw five players score in double figures. Arrington (14 ppg) said such balance has been a key during Wesleyan’s recent winning streak. “On any given night, any particular play er can take over the scoring load. We’re not so dependent on one person. This is what separates this year’s team Ikim last year’s,” said Arrington who made 12 of 16 shots— including five thnse-pointers—en route to a team-high 35 points in Wesleyan’s January 27 road win over Ferrurn. The team’s current hot streak comes after a slow start. The Bishops lost 7 of their first 10 non-conference games. But coaches and players believe that a tough early schedule has steeled the team for a late-season run. “We knew we were going to test ourselves early in the season,” Coach Thompson said. “I think we could've played better, but I hope our tough open ing schedule is helping now." The recent winning streak, he added, “is a tribute to what our players have done. They’ve stuck together, continued to work at it. and made adjustments as necessary.” Drake offered a similar observation. "Our opening schedule was really tough, and that prepared us to battle now,” said the senior point guard, who noted that the team came into the season with high expectations—“We wanted to win every game”—and remained positive despite the early losses. “We’ve got a ton of motivation. We practice every day like it's a game. We just try to bring it every day." Drake and his teammates feel Wesleyan is quite capable of wresting the conference tournament title from Averett, which beat CNU in last year’s championship game. “The focus level is at an all-time high for my teammates and myself,” Arrington said. “The key will be staying focused and taking each game one at a time and playing defense and rebounding. We control our own destiny at this point.” Coach Thompson echoed Arrington’s comments. “We constatitly remind the kids we have to stay focused,” he said. “We haven't won anything yet. The only thing we can control is our next game." As one of six seniors on the team, Arrington has been thrilled by Wes leyan’s recent success. “All the wins stand ou,t for me,” he said, “because this is the first time in my whole career that I’ve beaten every team in the conference at least once." Bishops Take the Long View Toward Baseball Season Entering his 12th season as head baseball coach, Charlie Lwig will pilot a 2010 team that won last year’s tegular season and tournament championdiips in the USA South Confaence. His team’s success earned Long his seccmd conference Coach of the Year award in 2009, as Wesleyan made its 21 st afpearance in the NCAA tournament Despite last year’s championship season, the Bishops have been picked third in the conference pre-season poll. Play will get under way February 19-21, when the Bishops host the Coldwell Banker Tournament of Champions, with invited teams that include Emory University and Cortland State. Randolph-Macon will come to Rocky Mount for a game on the 24th. Coach Long was interviewed prior to the season: Q. Before last season, you lost several star players (e.g, Chris Pecora, Matt Smith) and it was legitimate to ask where the offense would come from. But the team had a fine season offensively and over all. Some observers might say that your team over achieved. Were you surprised by the success? A. I was not surprised by the success because of the team chemistry. We had a few bumps along the way; however, our leader ship was outstanding and would not allow the team to quit. I was surprised by some of the individual results. The work that the individuals put in over their career proved to be worthwhile. Confidence is a fragile thing. When we played early, we invented ways to lose and felt like we would find a way to make that happen. When we got hot, we knew that no one would beat us. We came back in many situations and refiised to quit. Q. Last year you were 3-9 in Febmary against mostly non-league opponents. Then in March, around the time the conference games began, your team caught fire, going 14-3 for the month and ultimately winning the conference. How do you account for the slow start and then the winning streak? A. I think our goal evoy year is to play the best schedule we can possibly put togetha If this means struggling eariy, we have to simply take it and leam fkra the experience. I would like to get off to a stoMig stait and maintain that pace thiDughout I honestly believe, however, that the depth of our kague (ranked the best in the country) does not lend itself to the 40-win seasons we used to enjoy My hope is to prepare . our team by playing Cortland Stete, Emoiy, Lynchburg, Tufts and Heidelberg. All of these teams are tournament tested and make us better when we compete in our conferaice tournament Q. Talk about the key position players who retum for 2010. A. Justin Rahm and Zach Alexander are our key returners in the infield. Tach and Justin bring steady defense f« us and provide a great deal of power in the middle of our order. Daniel Moore will play right or center for us and hit in the top of the order. Joel Creef will start in left. Daniel and Joel give us lots of speed. Q. Talk, in more detail, about your pitching. Who are the projected starters? Who looks to be your closer? A. Our pitchers have quite a bit of expe rience. Max Knowles and Justin Diener will likely be our weekend starters. Max’s out pitch is an effective changeup and Justin is a bulldog who goes right at the hitters. John Child and Andrew Webb return at the back end of the pen as well. John led the team in appearances and recortled 5 saves and Andrew picked up 5 saves as well. We have a gnsat deal of confidence in them when the game is on the line. Kaleb Wessell and Richard Wall will also serve as starters this year. Each has come on strong and worked hard in the off season. Q. Who are some returning, non-starters who will be in the mix for starting positions and key roles on the team? A. Andrew Webb and Mark Buchanan will be battling for the final infield position at second or third. Pat Laffin will also look to take hold of an outfield position. Andrew and Mark are solid defensively and Pat brings more power to the lineup. Q. Who are some freshmen we should be watching? A. Freshmen to watch are Jake Swartout, Nick Digby, and JJ Allen. Jake has tremendous potential on the mound. He has a solid fastball. Nick and JJ are excellent hitters and should push for playing time. Tyler Qark and Mike McConnell will battle at the catching spot and should give us solid depth behind the plate. Transfers Denver Nixon, Chad Womble and Brian Allen will also play a key role in our suc cess. Denver and Brian are extremely fast and Chad will play a key role in our pitching depth. Q. Last year one of the big question marks entering the season was who would be your offensive catalysts. What are the main question marks for you and Coach Jones as you enter this season? A. I am worried about our defense. With new playere, getting everyone in the right place at the right time can be a stmggle. 1 am also a littie worried about the number of games we play eariy. Our pitchers will be tested fiiom the start Freshmen that are nor mally allowed a growing curve will be tossed into the mix right away We have the talent to win but we will have to leam quickly. Q. Talk a littte about how the conference will shape up this season. Who arc the early favorites? A. I think Shenandoah will be the favorite. They have many of their players retuming Irom last year’s team. I believe that the league is so balanced. Balance is what makes coaching in the USA South so rewarding and excruciating at the same time.
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