“The W” men’s basketball looking to stay hot in conference play
The Owls are riding a four-game win streak, with wins in their last six of seven.
It’s not uncommon for people to have a New Year’s resolution, as we saw entering 2025. For “The W” men’s basketball team, it turns out theirs was to earn more “W’s”.
The Owls are riding a four-game win streak in conference play heading into this week, with wins in six of their last seven games. They’re now 7-1 at home this season and have vaulted up to 5-3 in SLIAC play, sitting only a couple games out of first place.
“The past couple weeks we played at home and put together a win streak. We’re feeling pretty good right now,” said senior guard Chris Evans. “It starts right here in practice with everything that we do. We’re getting up and down, we’re being good in transition. We’ve been winning the rebounding game, and we’ve also been standing down on defense.”
Evans has been one of the catalysts of the win streak, leading the team with 11.2 points per game and the most three-pointers on the team. However, it’s the other end of the floor that the Owls excel and win their games at. Out of over 400 teams in Division Three basketball, MUW sits in the top 100 of most defensive and rebounding stats. Head Coach Dean Burrows says it’s the defense that his team possesses that has been the recipe to winning games.
“Our defense has been what we’ve hung our hat on all year. It’s the best defense I’ve ever had, whether it’s been here or at my previous institution,” Burrows said. “But what we’ve talked about here is breaking everything down into one game seasons. We talk about 1-0. We want to go 1-0 on possessions, how we eat, train, study, and all that stuff. If you can stack those things, you’re gong to set yourself up.”
Now, the Owls have entered the conversation when it comes to the top contenders in the SLIAC. With ten games to go before the conference tournament, they’re hoping to harness the energy and momentum they’ve gathered during the month of January.
However, the players are focused on Coach Burrows’ philosophy. Just like on the court, they’re not looking at the score of this game, or ahead at the games beyond. Their eyes and minds are locked in and focused straight ahead at the task on hand, and just trying to go 1-0.
“Every day, day in and day out, we come in looking to compete. We come in and keep going strong at each other,” said Evans. “In a game, it’s easier to play, but it’s all about going 1-0. We’re not looking at the end of the season for conference right now. We’re just looking to win every single day.”
The Owls will look to continue their winning streak as they begin their two-game road trip on Thursday, beginning with Greenville University before heading to Spalding University on Saturday.
