Men's Basketball Shoots for NCAA Tournament
Lexy Underhill
Assistant Coach Mason Wood is still hopeful for this season as the men’s basketball team has played 5 games. Joining the staff in 2015, Wood is nothing but joyful about basketball. “I was able to be a part of some pretty good teams,” Wood said. As the season is pushed into full force, coaches and players come together to be more successful.
“Although not where we would like to be, we have progressed since the beginning of the season," Wood said. "We really need to be able to close out games. We are still excited; it is a young season and we are looking forward to future games.”
The players have done many team bonding exercises. “The team went to a Madden's game a couple of weeks ago. We are thankful for a team that really works well with each other to achieve great things,” Wood said.
Junior Abdul Ogunnaike agrees. “There are some things that we need to work on but that is with every team," he said. "The more we do together as a team and trust in the system the better we will become.” Over winter break, the team will be traveling to Atlanta for a couple of different tournaments.
The main goal of the team is to return to the NCAA conference tournament, playing in the championship game. Both the team and coach have agreed that one thing is certain: always play hard. “We want to compete as a team,” Wood said. “We want to represent not only our program, but the university and the community of Manchester.”
Improvement is another main goal for the team. According to Wood, bettering the players and giving them a well-developed understanding is going to give the team the most successful end result. “We [as a team] try to respect the process of getting better, and as a coach, you have to try to be consistent in that and making sure all of your expectations are met,” Wood said.
On Dec. 2, MU basketball played at St. Joseph Harrington Center with a loss of 75-60.