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Show BACK PACE Thursday, December 1, EDITOR i 2011 Brooke Cersosimo, L r0 rt Orn n Eii' JtD 586-548- 8 L On n ?.?n7 Vj vJ uUkilil UisSJLvJlJLJl!, u When the mens basketball team Wildcats getting any votes. hits court in Tulsa, Okla. this Saturday, it Next weeks poll should even out some of will mark the beginning of the end of an era that distance between Oakland and Weber for SUU. State, too. Oakland never skipped will start their 15th The a beat in an 2 victory over and final season in the Summit Tennessee; the Wildcats got beat which could be more down senselessly in the second half League than a blessing in disguise for of an 0 loss to St. Marys. Outside of Weber State, the hoops. Unlike football, where the level Big Sky isnt that strong of a of competition will surely increase, conference, and its been that way the Big Sky Conference is less than for some time. revered in basketball. The Big Sky was 26th out of 33 As it stands right now, the Summit conferences last season the Summit League, despite having the League is 14th in the RPI standings, while the Big Sky ranks 21st. worst team in Division I, Centenaiy, And while Weber State stands was 21st. CARTER No. 7 in the Now that Centenary is gone, the Top 25. the Summit League has Oakland (No. WILLIAMS Summit League is slightly stronger this season. 21) and North Dakota State (No. and 24) currently.standing in the rankings Its got some pretty entertaining players, Oral Roberts isnt too far off that list either. too, making conference games a must-se- e South Dakota State has garnered a few votes this season inside the Centrum Arena. here and there as well. Most people associated the Summit League The Big Sky doesnt have anyone after the with former Oakland center Keith Benson, 89-8- 87-7- Mid-Maj- Li i.ifD who ended up with the Atlanta Hawks in this years NBA Draft or possibly former Indiana guard George Hill, who has been one of the- - NBAs best kept secrets for the past couple of years. However, the Summit League is home to South Dakota States Nate Wolters, who has blossomed into what I dubbed last year as the Jimmer guard is currently averaging 20.4 points and a little more than six assists per game. He averaged 19.5 per game last season. While Wolters isnt quite the scorer Jimmer was, hes better running the pointand playing defense than the former BYU guard. Then theres Alex Young, who was named Preseason Conference Player of the Year this season. He averaged 19.7 points last season and currently averages 17 per game. Oaklands Reggie Hamilton is another name to familiarize yourself with. Hes been tabbed, along with Wolters, as one of the best point guards in the country. The SUU mens basketball team celebrates after a Hamilton scored 35 points in Oaklands basket against Troy University night. This is See SUMMIT, Page 11 SUUs last season in the Summit Saturday Purdue-Indianapol- is Mid-Maj- mid-maj- League. on the road, start conference play T-Bir- ds By CARTER WILLIAMS The SUU mens basketball team will head into conference play this week, taking on Oral Roberts to begin its final season within the Summit League. The dropped to 3 on the season Saturday with an 6 loss to Troy in a game SUU had led easily midway through the second half. This came after the enjoyed a comfortable home win against Virginia Wednesday. In Saturdays loss, the Trojans shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and allowed SUU to just 31 percent shooting to overcome a 58-5- 0 deficit halfway through the second period of play and win by four. The had a chance to tie the game, but forward Jackson Stevenett's potential 4-- 80-7- on the left game-tyin- g wing rimmed o jt of the basket with 10 seconds left. Troy guard Will Weathers, who led the Trojans with 20 second-hal- f points, then iced the game with a pair of free throws, It always hurts after a loss, but you know what we do well as a team and our coaches point out our mistakes and show us how to get better from them, SUU guard Ray Jones said. They make sure we know we can fix them. Its not like we lose and all hope is gone, were definitely going to improve. That s what this whole week is about get ready for ORU SUU will look to rebound from the loss with a trip to Tulsa, Okla. to take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Saturday to tipoff the 15th and final season in the Summit League for both teams. - Wide receiver Brady Measom runs a punt return down the field against South Dakota in the DakotaDome Oct. 8. Measom was named the Rookie of the Year, an award which is voted on by Great West Conference coaches, Three other players were honored with the GWC Player of the Year award along with Measom. rd (The loss Saturday) gives us f motivation for a greal week of practice coming into Oral Roberts, SUU forward Matt Massey said, after the loss Saturday. Because if we play like we did (Saturday) -- r ORUs better than (Troy). So we have to come out to ORU and kick their ass. SUU will bolt for the Big Sky Conference and ORU will head into the Southland Conference after the season ends, While games against conference teams are fun for the players, Jones said everyone on the team knows this is the most important game thus far on SUUs schedule, Now is when (our games) really start counting, he said, This game would be a big statement game if we go out and play hard and pull it off, I think' we can turn a lot of heads. Head coach Roger Reid said he believes if his team can play like they have the majority of die season so far, they can come away with a win Saturday, If we have the same kind of effort going up and playing a team on the road that nobody thinks we can beat like a Utah State thing if we have that same kind of effort, well hopefully let this conference know were for real, he said, Were ready to play. ORU (4-entered the season as the preseason favorite in the Summit League. The Golden Eagles are riding a winning streak after losses to West Virginia and Texas-Sa- n Antonio to begin the season and are led by one of the conferences best forward scorers, who Morrison, Dominique a cwilliamssuunews.com - See ORU, Pcsge 11 Four SUU players earn GWC Player of the Year awards By BROOKE CERSOSIMO bcersosimosuunews.com SUU football standouts swept the Great West Conference Player of the Year awards and led the team to its second consecutive winning season. Quarterback Brad Sorensen was named Offensive Player of the Year, defensive end Tyler Osborne was Defensive Player of the Year, Running back Austin Minefee earned Special Teams Player of the Year and wide receiver Brady Measom was named Rookie of the Year. Coaches within the conference voted on these awards. I commend the coaches, and Im honored that they would look at the whole season and what our players did throughout the season because within the conference we werent that Head coach Ed successful, Lamb said said. Sorensen led the conference in several categories by completing 5 passing for 3,143 total yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Osborne is the first to earn the Defensive Player of the Year award from the GWC. He had a total of 60 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his senior season. Minefee finished seventh in the nation in kickoff return average by recording 25 kickoff returns for 731 yards. During the season, he broke the SUU kickoff return record with a return. 288-of-42- 99-ya- Measom led the in receiving with 48 catches for 547 yards, which made him second in the conference. Lamb said having a player earn the Rookie of the Year award helps the teams recruiting and keeps the team driven Its really good for us from a recruiting he standpoint, He showed that true said. freshman can come in and play at about the highest level that you could do it. It gives some extra motivation to some guys that have been in the program because Brady came in and surpassed them on the depth chart and showed that it could be done as a walk-oSUU also had nine players earn spots on the first team and five more on the n. second team. The ended the season with a record of 5 and in conference play SUU finished 1 the season after having three-gam- e a losing stieak midway through the season. Lamb said the seniors never gave up and kept pushing the team through losses. Our seniors had high expectations for the team, and even through high setbacks they never allowed the team to give up, he said. That is what allowed us to finish strong and with a winning record. Lamb said having a winning season doesn't always tell the entire story. We had some setbacks that we can learn from, he said. 6-- 3-- See SWEEP, Page 1 1 Forward Ramell Taylor looks for the pass during start conference play against Oral Roberts Saturday night in Tulsa, Okla. Tuesdays practice. The |