Men's hoops set for fresh start
Erica Easter, Staff Reporter
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On Friday, December 9, the men's basketball team will have their first conference game at Fort Lewis. Prior to this conference opener, the team has a 2-3 record, traveling to places like Seattle University and hosting teams like Johnson and Wales.
Returning players are junior Chris Brever, senior Casey Fisher, senior Jay Goral, senior Logan Garvin, senior Jason Deich, senior Ben Schafer, and senior Slade Bigelow. This veteran team welcomes five new players to the Ranger roster: junior Buster Miller, freshman Jumoke Emery, senior Alex Glueckler, junior Nick Winder, and junior Brandon Butler.
Their last five games have been led offensively by the points put up by Butler, Goral and Bigelow with the bulk of assists from Garvin and Miller. However, Ranger coach, Lonnie Porter says, "I don't single anyone out. I believe in the team concept," he adds," this team has been working very hard despite the injuries that have plagued them." The team will lose what Coach Porter says are "two pivotal players" this season due to injuries.
Fisher is out for the entire season because of an ACL injury and Deich is also going to be absent on the court due to a back problem. Coach Porter says that with these setbacks "it is hard to tell what kind of season we will have because we are off to a slow start," he adds, " there is a tough schedule ahead and we lack the depth-only having eight players will hurt us." Despite the slow start,
Porter believes that his team is working extremely hard but "they are just tired because they have to fill in for those who are injured."