Starting off this years men’s basketball season they will participate in four tournaments. The intent of these tournaments is to get the Cavaliers ready for their league games. The first of the tournaments was the Shenandoah Tournament, which took place on Nov. 22 and 23. The Cavaliers lost in overtime to Mary Washington College 69-74, but came back with a win against Christendom College 82-48.
“We would have liked to win the tournament, but realistically when you go on the road in college basketball, your hopes are in a tournament to be one and one. I think a spilt is good,” coach John Dzik said.
“Tip-off tournaments like these are hard because you do not get the chance to see your opposing team, and there is not a lot of time to prepare,” Dzik said. Mary Washington did not know anything about Cabrini as did Cabrini know anything about them. “You kind of wing it by the seat of your pants and hopefully react the best you can,” Dzik said. However, Mary Washington played defense that the Cavaliers were not prepared for.
Cabrini was down by 10 at half time. Sophomore Ty Teasley made a three point shot with one second on the clock to tie the game, which forced the teams into overtime. In overtime, the Cavaliers did not play as well as they should have and were out scored by five points.
On day two, the Cavaliers played against Christendom College. Christendom was completely over matched. All 14 Cavalier players got playing time and each scored in the game. It was a step in a positive direction. “We played hard in the second game and that was a plus for us as a team,” freshman guard Augie Woodland said.
Even though Cabrini came out of this tournament with a spilt win, coach Dzik was still disappointed. “I felt that the team was not where they should have been in terms of preparation. My fears were realized. We are still to fragment and until we work together we are not going to be very good. I think that the team has not yet recognized that we are dependent upon one another for success.”
“This tournament gave us an idea of how the season will go if we do not play with heart. We will be beaten again unless we play like a team,” junior guard Saleem Brown said.
The Cavaliers play their next tournament in Florida against Lagrange from Georgia and Wisconsin River Falls. “They will both be a difficult contest, but if we play like a team we should rise to the occasion,” Dzik said.
