Cougar Nation!

The winter snow finally arrived last week in Mount Vernon and it came down like there was no tomorrow. Tuesday, we faced Wilberforce University for our first home game in a month. The Cougar fans were out in full force for a great attendance. We came out hot like it was the first game of the year, and in a way it was the first game of the year. Everyone was playing together and we were in a great rhythm. We were up 10 or 12 points and thought for sure this would be a big win for us. Then, we seemed to hit a wall. We missed some shots, they made some shots, and it seemed like our enthusiasm dropped off a cliff. Thank goodness Robbie Taylor was shooting lights out. He was the biggest reason we stayed in the game. When it came down to the end, we were down three and needed a big shot to tie the game. Coach drew up a great play, but Wilberforce did a great job on defense. We were unable to get a shot off and ended up losing by three.

We had no time to be upset about the lose to Wilberforce because UNO (University of Northwestern Ohio) was on deck for Thursday’s game and they are always looking for a fight. Then, God stepped in and the snow come down. On Thursday morning, we had a few inches of snow on the ground in a matter of hours and UNO was getting blasted as well. Due to the weather, the game was canceled and rescheduled for Saturday the 16th. And don’t have any worries we still had practice on Thursday!

Saturday morning came extremely early. Our departure time was 6:00 a.m. I have not been up at 6 in the morning since we had to run the Crossroads for conditioning almost 4 months ago. I wish I could have recorded some of the guys getting on the bus. Kyle Harden was asleep before we left the parking lot. Grimm (Adam) looked as though he was dressed for a blizzard and Gurney (Jonathan) was doing homework. The fun started early! JT Holliday was sitting beside me on the 6 hour ride to New York. Let me tell you a little story about him. On the bus, JT fell asleep holding his water bottle. At some point during the ride, he awoke to have a sip of his water and he forgot to place the cap back on the bottle before he fell back asleep. When he awoke the second time, he was covered in water. I mean covered in water. His appearance provided us with lots of laughter.

Daemen College was ranked 18th in the nation and with a point to prove the Cougars came to battle! We played one of our best games of the season from a team aspect. Everything we do well as a team we needed on Saturday. We ran our plays, we rebounded, we made shots and our excitement and enthusiasm was top notch. It was a great game to watch live and from a few people I have talked with, the WNZR radio announcers also brought the game to life. Big Bryce played like the Man he is ended up with a double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds). We had four guys in double digits and we made our free throws! Brandon Short did everything, and I mean everything coach asked him to do. Brandon ran the show against Daemen. He took control when we needed him and he turned up the heat when things started to cool down. Brandon (below in the middle), in my opinion, played his best game of the year. That is why he is the Inside Huddle Player of the Week.

Let's Go Inside the Huddle:

Name: Brandon Short

Number: 23

Year: Junior

Major: Sports Management

Nickname: B

Hometown: Orrville , OH

Favorite Place to Eat: Misses Jays. According to B the Breakfast special is outstanding.

Favorite College Activity: Sleeping, kicking it with the boys and eating ice cream.

Relationship Status: Brandon will be conducting interviews Thursday from 7 -9 p.m. All applicants must bring their favorite ice cream and be prepared to play one-on-one first five points.

One Quick Fact: Brandon beat Bob Knight in HORSE when he was 7 years old. Coach Knight said if he kept working out he might play for the Hoosiers someday. Brandon told Coach Knight he wasn’t interested and he wanted to play for the Tar Heels.

Peace!

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