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Volume CXXXII, Number 12 |
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Basketball rebounds for a win
BOBBY DESAULNIERS
STAFF WRITER
The Bowdoin Men's Basketball Team fought for its first victory in the last six contests last Tuesday. The win came against Maine Maritime Academy by a score of 69-47. Braden Clement '03 was the key contributor with 16 points, and Mike Yakavonis '05 played a noteworthy game as well, putting up 11 points and five rebounds.
The win was quite a large step for the team that has been plagued by their defensive inefficiencies. Recently the Bears' defense has struggled, giving up 78 points to Trinity and 86 to Amherst last weekend.
However, in the victory against Maine Maritime, the Bears gave up only 20 points in the first half and allowed a mere 27 in the second. Such a step, especially defensively, attests to the fact that the Bears have a newly found desire to win that they aim to carry through the rest of the season.
Returning from their brief holiday break, the Bears ran into a stretch of 15 practices without a game, due to the fact that one game was snowed out. With nothing to do but practice and play basketball, the recreational aspects of basketball seemed to fade to the periphery.
With classes underway and games abound, basketball is no longer a break from any other facet of life that, in comparison, would seem less enjoyable.
"For that time when we had all of those practices in a row, it was tough to remember that basketball, as the primary focus of our day, was still a game-a game to be played. After last week's losses, we changed our focus and the results speak for themselves," said T.J. Macleod '04.
The team concentrated on bringing back the early season intensity that made them successful early on. Intensity is severely contagious. As one player dives for a loose ball, another will fight that much harder for a board. The stench of intensity is easy to detect, and the players as well as the coaches know to chase it when it is in the air. Intensity hangs thick on the Bowdoin basketball team.
This weekend, the Bears will take on conference rivals Connecticut College and Wesleyan in their last two home games of the season. Come all, and see these boys play hoops.
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