» By ANTHONY SHINGLER – [email protected]
Winless.
That one word summarizes the Govs basketball team so far this season. The Govs are off to their worst start since the 1993-94 season. They lost their home opener against MTSU Saturday, Nov. 26, 90-70, making their record 0-7.
“We really got it handed to us tonight,” said head coach Dave Loos in a press release. “The shooting percentages tell it all. There’s a lot that makes up for why that happens, but the fact of the matter is, we’re just not making any shots. We’ve got to start making some shots and we’ve got start making some stops.”
The Govs have been playing without senior center John Fraley since their previous loss to MTSU in the season-opener on Friday, Nov. 11, when he suffered a concussion.
Fraley’s absence had the most impact on the boards and in the post. The Govs snatched a season-low 26 rebounds and also allowed MTSU to shoot 64.7 percent from the field. They also outscored the Govs 34-23 in the post.
The Govs shot 21-of-58 (36.2 percent) from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. They also shot 24-of-33 from the free
throw line.
“We’ve got to step up, because no one is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got a long way to go,” Loos said. “We play good basketball teams the rest of the way through the pre-conference schedule. We hope to be ready to play in our conference. We’ve got to find our way.”
Down only 38-30 at halftime, the Govs allowed MTSU to open the second half on a 22-6 run. At the 12:58 mark, they had established a 23-point lead, 61-38, their biggest lead of the game.
The Govs rallied and cut the lead to 12 points, 72-60, on a layup by senior forward Melvin Baker with 6:38 left in the game. However, they could not get any closer.
Senior guard TyShawn Edmondson led the Govs with 14 points. Baker added 12 points and sophomore forward.
Will Triggs added nine points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Chris Freeman tied Triggs for the most rebounds with six.
Marcos Knight led MTSU with 16 points and LaRon Dendy and Shawn Jones added 13 points each.
The Govs return to action Saturday, Dec. 5, traveling to face Memphis. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be watched on CSS locally. TAS
