Skin blazed from the spring break sun and shining on the light of the court, the Samford Men’s Basketball team took the court at the NIT tournament against George Mason on Wednesday the 19th.
Samford Men’s Basketball faced off against George Mason in the National Invitation Tournament, known as NIT for short. The invite only tournament is considered the second best in the country following the NCAA. Having not made the NCAA, the NIT was the bulldogs second chance to continue playing postseason and their first time playing in the competition.
However, the NIT selection was released Sunday, March 16th and most players did not return from spring break until Monday. This gave them only two days to prepare for the face off.
When speaking Tuesday afternoon with Bucky McMillan, Samford Basketball’s Coach, he was not optimistic about the game.
“In the past we’ve had guys practicing all of spring break only to not get in (to the NIT). We didn’t feel like that was fair to the guys, so we let them have their spring break,” McMillan said.
Between break and the game, McMillan noted that the players were only able to get one practice in.
“It was pretty sloppy,” McMillan said. “It is not the most ideal, but I didn’t want to take break away from them without certainty we would get into the tournament.”
Players seemed more optimistic about the game.
“I felt prepared, rested, and ready to go,” said point guard Rylan Jones.
When it came time for the game, Samford fell behind in the first half.
“We were a little rusty in the first half and didn’t play our best,” Jones said. “But we turned it around in the second half and played well against a really good team.”
The game ended 86-69.
“This gives us more practice for next season,” McMillan said. “Hopefully, we can pick back up where we left off when we get back next season. We want to do whatever we can to have the most success. We want to keep going and take the next step forward.”
Despite the season coming to an end, the Bulldogs end with a 22-11 record hopeful for the next season.
Staff Writer
