By Atencio Martin

The SMCC Men’s basketball team traveled to NHTI Thursday night for their 11th regular season outing. If you look up the statistics of the game you will see that SMCC won 88 to 80. You’ll see that SMCC shot poorly from the free throw line and you will also see that they held NHTI to only 5 offensive rebounds. What you won’t see however is the culture of the team when they aren’t on the court!

When the team is on the bus, Carlos Gonzalez (Center) can always be heard with some comment on the “light skin vs Dark skin” battle. Occasionally Jack Tolland (Center) will have something to say but will immediately be shot down by Lawrence power duo Francis Spraus (Forward) and Kevin Fabian (Guard). You can always count on John Morgan (Forward) and Nick Gould (Guard) to be speaking in depth about fantasy football. Manny Perry (Guard) will always be sitting quietly in the last seat, in front of the bathroom listening to Childish Gambino. The bus ride is always amusing if you sit back and listen to the dialogue. Regardless of what is said on the bus, the level of comfort between teammates can be felt from every seat and every part of the aisle. A big influence on the teams energy is sophomore forward Francis Spraus. When asked about the team he had this to say, “We’re all different. Everybody acts different.

Everybody has there own individual personality. And to be honest that makes us closer. It makes us stronger. And it helps with chemistry because we need each other for our team to go full circle.”!

The team has many pre game rituals that will remain disclosed but there are a few things that can be known. Forty minutes to game time the team can be found in a private room, going through their routine pre game calisthenics. The songs “What you saying” by Omelly and “6 God” by Drake can always be heard playing during this phase of the Wolf pack warm up. One might think that the team would be quiet and focused before one of the biggest games of the semester but on this night it was all smiles and jokes in the Seawolf locker room. Like always, assistant coach Cichon brings the team together and veteran shooting guard Josh Gormley yells, 1.2.3 and the team responds with SEAWOLVES then Josh continues 4.5.6 and the team responds FAMILY.

What happened in the game is common knowledge. We know the outcome, we know who came out victorious, but the mystery of the game is what happens when the lights go off. The SMCC mens basketball team is made up of 17 different student athletes. Most people only see the great defense, excellent bench decorum and the fantastic 10-1 record but behind the scenes is a brotherhood unlike any other that can only be described by one word, Dauntless.