Bryan College Triangle

Junior shooting guard Rober "Philly" Riley (# 10) attempts to knock the ball from a Tennessee Temple player's grasp / Triangle photo by Cat Rogers

Shane Vicry
Triangle Reporter

The Bryan College men’s basketball team opened up its season Monday night, playing host to the Crusaders of Tennessee Temple University (Chattanooga). The Lions trailed throughout, and lost by a final score of 66-56.

Freshman point guard Dion Fair and junior shooting guard Rob “Philly” Riley led the Lions with 13 points apiece.

Despite the loss, the team is taking away several positives from the game, and the coaches are very optimistic about the upcoming season.

The Lions will have a much different look this season as Bryan saw 11 players depart from last year’s squad that finished the regular season as No. 2 seed of the AAC, including eight graduating seniors. As a result, outside expectations are tempered, with the Lions picked to finished seventh out of nine teams in the AAC.

Assistant Coach Samuel Gilbertson says he feels the lowered expectations really play to the team’s advantage. Read full story »

by Ericka Smith
Assistant Editor

The Bryan College Athletic Department hired men’s assistant basketball coach Jason Smith to take over the head women’s basketball coaching position. Smith was hired in the beginning of March, and his official duties start on April 1.

Smith’s experience in head coaching started at Calvary Bible College (Kansas City, MO) where he was the men’s basketball coach for three years, according to Smith. He then moved to San Diego Christian College (El Cajon, Calif.) where he coached the men’s basketball team from 2007-2009.

For the past year, Smith has assisted head men’s basketball coach Don Rekoske. According to Smith, he has never coached women before.

“This is a new step in my coaching career,” Smith said.

After accepting the head coaching position, Smith said he started holding individual meetings with the players so as to build player development.

“We’re going to work a lot on individual player development between now and the start of the season,” he said.

One of his goals for the women’s basketball team is to work on the team’s attitude and effort, according to Smith, and he said he realizes that he will face challenges with his new team.

“I’ve coached enough to know there are bumps in the road.”

Smith said he desires for the women’s basketball team to be competitive in the Appalachian Athletic Conference next year, and he said he plans to accomplish that goal by working on “their identity and responsibility on and off the court.”

“Being a head coach is an honor. I love being a head coach,” Smith said. “The Lady Lions are headed in the right direction, and I’m excited about seeing the growth in the individuals and the team.”

Senior forward Keith Bauer attmepts to break through Union’s defense on his way to the basket during Saturday afternoon’s game./Triangle photo by Catherine Rogers

by Catherine Rogers
Multimedia Editor

Saturday afternoon marked the regular-season finale game for the Bryan College men’s basketball team, during which they hosted and defeated the Union College (Barbourville, Ky.) Bulldogs, 77-69.

“Union has one of the best players in the league, [sophomore guard Turrell Morris], and they won two decisive games coming in, so we knew they we’re going to be a tough team,” said Head Coach Don Rekoske. “I thought we had to play at a very high level to beat them, so that’s a tribute to how well our guys played.”

In the first half, Bryan took the game’s first lead and despite a five-minute back-and-forth swap, held the lead for the majority of the first 20 minutes of play. Going into the locker rooms, the Bulldogs trailed the Lions 37-33.

The second period saw the Lions pull out an 11-point lead in the half’s first three minutes and top the high level of play from Union, managing an 8-point win. Bryan outrebounded Union, 36-27, and committed only eight turnovers to Union’s eleven. Read full story »

by Catherine Rogers
Multimedia Editor

Senior forward Derek Batt taks a shot on the basket during last Wednesday's game against Tennessee Wesleyan College / Triangle photo by Daniel Jackson

After defeating the Tennessee (Athens) Wesleyan Bulldogs, 71-57, in a home game last Wednesday, the men’s varsity basketball team travelled to Bluefield (Va.) College on Saturday and gained their second win of the week with a score of 67-54.

“It’s our first win [at Bluefield] in the seven years I’ve been at Bryan,” said Head Coach Don Rekoske. “And when you’ve never won up there and you’re playing a team that’s only a game behind you in the conference you’re worried, but I thought we were extremely responsible defensively.”

In the first half, the Lions’ defense kept Bluefield shooting only 24 percent overall and built their lead to 12 points. The score at halftime was 28-16.

“We executed our game plan pretty well,” said senior forward Astral Guerrier. “We shut them down on the defensive end, we out rebounded them and we eliminated fast break points.”

The Lions advanced their lead to 19 points in the second half until the Rams cut it down to nine points just 26 seconds before the final buzzer.

“What really helped us, not only in this game but throughout the year, was bench play,” said Senior guard Xavierian McCall. “[Several players] came in and really gave us a lift.” Read full story »

by Tim Baldi
Staff Writer

This week, I interviewed Don Rekoske, head coach of the men’s varsity basketball team about his goals for the season.

So coach, how has your season been going so far?

So far it’s going real well, we’re 7-3. We’re ranked just outside the top 25 at number 27 in the country.

[There are a] lot of seniors on this year’s team, a group of guys that I’ve really enjoyed coaching. A lot of these guys have played for me for four years. A couple of them are transfers that have played for me as juniors and seniors. We have a good group of guys, good chemistry. It’s been a real pleasure to work with this group.

Editors Note: As of Dec. 6, the Lions are ranked number 25 in the country.

Who are the team’s top players?

We have three all-conference players returning. We are a very balanced team first of all, but we still have our go-to guys. Senior forward center Scott Newton is the league’s runner-up MVP. Junior forward center Astral Guerrier and Senior forward Keith Bauer are second team all-conference players that are returning. Senior guard Dominique Clements has come in this year as a redshirt giving us a nice sixth man off the bench averaging about 11 points a game. Beyond that, Senior point guard Demond [Craig] has had a really good year so far as [point guard]. He’s been a four-year starter for us. That’s always a real luxury to have a kid play [point guard] that’s been a four-year starter. He’s been very productive. Senior guard Xavierian McCall really gets it done on both ends of the floor.

What are the team’s strengths and weaknesses?

Well, we have weaknesses; we’re still a work in progress. We’ve been trying to address those weaknesses over these past 10 days.