Red Storm win PacWest, lose in first round
Richard Briggs
Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Sports
|
The Red Storm entered the tournament on Friday as the No. 5 seed in the West Region, which was played in Bellingham, Wash. They lost 71-62 to the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos, who played in the national championship game in 2009. DSC did not shoot the ball well shooting only 34 percent compared to 51 percent for Cal Poly Pomona. Junior guard Donovan Plunkett led the Red Storm with 16 points.
"We didn't play one of our better games," head coach Jon Judkins said. "I don't want the guys to focus on that game because we accomplished some great things this year. We made it to the tournament in our second year that we were eligible when most schools have never been."
DSC finished the season with a 20-6 record and a 14-2 record in the Pacific West Conference. The Red Storm finished as co-champions of the PacWest with Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
"We met our goals," Judkins said. "Now we'll have higher goals next year."
Judkins said the goals were to win every home game, win 20 total games, win the conference and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Junior guard Jeremiah Barnes, an integrated studies major from Compton, Calif., also said the players on the team were happy they met their goals.
"We would've liked to get a win," Barnes said. "But only one team gets to finish the season with a win, and that's the team that wins it all. Next year our goal is to go further in the tournament."
Junior forward Tom Whitehead, a business major from St. George, said the biggest thing the team can do is build off the success from this season.
The Red Storm started conference play this season by shocking the rival Seasiders of BYU-H with an 86-78 win. This win was the first ever in DSC history against BYU-H. BYU-H avenged the loss with a 91-74 win against the Red Storm in Laie, Hawaii.
The win for the Red Storm on Jan. 7 helped put them on the radar as they went on to win their next five conference games. The strong start in conference play put DSC in the perfect position to win a share of the conference championship.
The Red Storm's seven-game winning streak came to an end on Jan. 30 with a two-point loss to Grand Canyon University. The loss in Phoenix ended up being the reason BYU-H won the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Both the Red Storm and Seasiders defeated the No. 3 team in the conference, Hawaii Pacific University, twice. This caused the tiebreaker to be decided by wins against the No. 4 team in the conference, the GCU Antelopes. The Seasiders defeated GCU twice during the season, but DSC only beat the Antelopes once.
DSC proved its legitimacy by going to Hawaii and winning three games. The Red Storm had only won two games in the previous two years in Hawaii. Despite the loss to BYU-H, the Red Storm kept their goal of winning the conference championship alive by having a successful visit to the islands.
The crowd at Burns Arena was treated to seeing DSC win every game at home this season. The Red Storm accumulated a 12-0 record at home.
They set the tone for their home games at the first regular season game of the year when they defeated California State University-Dominguez Hills by 20 points. Whitehead hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds against Montana State University-Billings to win. The Red Storm exploded with pressure defense and spotless shooting to destroy the UHH Vulcans by 32 points. Finally, the players cutting down the net in the final home game against HPU to signify winning their first PacWest championship.
Judkins said he appreciated the support that was given to the team this year. He said the team had a great following during home games as well as road games.
"It's great to have fan support," Whitehead said. "Little runs turn into bigger runs."
DSC is losing four players from this team as senior guard Adam Ross, senior forward Andy Palmer and senior center Nick Howard are all graduating. Freshman center Zach Robbins is leaving the team to serve an LDS mission.
Be the first to comment on this story