STLCC men’s basketball team looks to finish regular season on a high note
Spencer Gleason
-Sports Editor-
Aaron McCall
-Staff Writer-
The 2011-2012 STLCC Archer men’s basketball team has scored an average of 74 points per game through 26 games this season. While only allowing an average of 67 points per game defensively, the Archers have positioned themselves with a 20-6 record. With the Region XVI Tournament being held on March 9 and 10 in Kansas City, Mo., the Archers look to ride their 12 game-winning streak into the tournament.
“We’re [20-6]; we’re on a [12] game-winning streak so I don’t think we can be in much better shape than we are,” head coach Randy Albrecht said. “Right now we have season momentum, we have won [12] in a row, and that’s the kind of momentum you want.”
According to coach Albrecht, this season had a slower start than usual, but the players and the coaching staff have worked together to overcome that. Currently, the Archers have won 15 of their last 16 games.
“I’m pleasantly surprised at this point in time,” Albrecht said.
One pleasant surprise, Albrecht said, is his Archers’ free throw shooting. Shooting 73 percent from the free throw line has his Archers leading all Division II teams in the nation. Free throws have come in handy this season, Albrecht said. Of the team’s 20 wins this season, six of them have been by five points or less.
“We do not have to rely on one person every game,” Albrecht said. “I like that kind of team to coach.”
Mixing in three freshmen along with six sophomores, Albrecht said he hopes to start a new tradition with the navy blue and silver.
“Most research done on why guys pick the colleges they go to is because of tradition of the school,” Albrecht said. “We have no tradition; we had tradition at Meramec. There are a lot of positive changes here, but there are still things that are concerns. That’s why it’s really important for us to have a good year this year, to start a tradition.”
While outscoring their opponents by an average of seven points per game, the Archers look for a winning tradition and give Albrecht 28 consecutive winning seasons.
“We’ve been playing great,” Charlie Mueller, freshman center, said. “[We’ve been] working our butts off on defense and making it tough for people to score on us.”
Mueller, a 6-foot-7-inch center, has 59 defensive rebounds and blocked 27 shots, averaging 1.1 blocks per game, helping the Archers under the basket.
“Being an undersized team, we do not have a lot of height,” Kyle Rice, sophomore forward, said. “Most of the guys we play are bigger than us.”
With an average height just under 6-foot-1-inch, the nine players that put on the Archer uniform do not see size as an obstacle.
“[Our goal is to] win the regional [tournament] and go to the national tournament,” Albrecht said. “That’s our ultimate goal.”
