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[2]By Tyler Renaud [3]
BELLEVILLE – It will be a big weekend for the Loyalist Lancers [4] men’s basketball team as it hosts both Canadore [5] and Centennial [6] colleges.
The Lancers have alternated wins and losses this season, posting a record of three wins and two losses through five games. They currently sit in sixth place in the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association [7] eastern division.
Head coach Ryan Barbeau says he believes that his team will improve.
“We have a lot of talent on the team – we just have some new players we are trying to fit in. So far, we have played some good halves of basketball, but we haven’t put a full game together yet,” Barbeau said. “I think by the end of the season we are going to be a pretty good team. Right now everything is a little new and still coming together, but our guys are working hard and now it just becomes an execution thing.”
This is the first time the team will participate in a double-header this year, and Barbeau spoke to the difficulties preparing for two teams in a week.
“We have five practice days ahead of this game, which is good,” he said, explaining that the team will run different drills based on the styles of the Canadore and Centennial teams. “Our preparation this week will be very similar to other weeks. I think it’s about maintaining a balance between the two and not focusing solely on one. Our guys have seen everything they are going to see.”
Both Centennial and Canadore are below the Lancers in the standings, but the coach wants to keep his team humble.
“We have overlooked teams before. We did that against Fleming and Durham this year. We did win against Fleming, but we didn’t play particularly well. Durham – who we should have beaten – we lost to because I think our guys took it for granted that we were a better team … We never undersell the other team – I don’t think that’s a good way to go. We take every guy on every team as if they are the best player in the league, because I think that’s the mentality we have to have to be successful.”
The top six teams make into the playoffs each year. Loyalist is two points out of a playoff spot with two games left to play.
Lancers power forward Funsho Dimeji said he knows how crucial these early games are for a post-season berth.
“Every game is important, because we only have 20 games. There might be a pack (fighting for playoff positions) like last year, and we don’t want to be one of those teams again this year,” Dimeji said.
Last season the Lancers finished eighth in the East division with 20 points, but the team was close to clinching a playoff spot. Only six points separated Loyalist from the playoffs, and eight from earning a first-round bye.
So Barbeau is stressing the importance of the games even against lower-ranked teams.
“These games are huge! Obviously, every game is huge for us just because we have seen throughout the years when you get down to the end our league is so tight that there could be six teams tied at the end of the year,” he said.
If the Lancers can get two wins, it will set them up for a good week as they prepare to play Algonquin, the second-ranked team in the league, Barbeau said.
“I think these are really important games to come out and play really hard and win that way.”
The team will play Centennial Saturday at 3 p.m. and Canadore Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Loyalist.