The Eagles’ basketball team concluded their two-game weekend road trip with a loss at University of Arkansas Fort-Smith, but improved their performance from Thursday night’s 40-point loss to Rogers State.
Despite the improvement, Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hays said the team is not currently in the position they need to be in if they want to win.
“We just aren’t playing at a level to compete with these top-tier Heartland teams,” Hays said. “These two teams are the best in the league and we just can’t match them offensively or defensively the way we’re playing right now.”
The Eagles maintained their shooting at about 40 percent for both halves. They were able to make a slight comeback in the second half after the Lions led 42-26 at halftime. The Eagles fell to Arkansas-Fort Smith 88-58 as the Lions set a school record for made 3-pointers.
John Moon continued to lead the Eagles offensively with 21 points, nine rebounds and one block. Jordan Rutherford added 11 points, three assists and two rebounds for the team. Moon and Rutherford were the only Eagles to score into the double-digits.
Luis Lopez led the team behind the arch with two out of three of the Eagles’ 3-point shots, contributing 7 points, one assist and three rebounds.
Looking at what could be done to improve the team’s overall performance, Strickland said listening to Hays is the key.
“Doing what coach asks us to do, doing it as a team, [and] really put effort into each practice we have,” Strickland said. “[Then] just go out in our next game and do what we practice.”
Hays said he looks to the upcoming week as a prime time for the team to step up its game and keep working on offensive and defensive strategies.
“I’m hoping that some practice time and some adjustments will do it [but] time will tell,” Hays said. “We’ve got a couple home games next week and hopefully we’ll play better. We’ll have to.”
The Eagles host St. Mary’s University on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Texas A&M International on Jan. 31 at 3 p.m.
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