By Aaron Rodenhausen
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College’s men’s basketball team has struggled since entering the Centennial Conference, facing more losses than wins as they play against highly capable opponents. Nonetheless, this adversity has only driven the Shoremen to become more dedicated than ever to following their coaches and operating as a unit.
Their first game of the week was at home, against the Diplomats of Franklin and Marshall College on Jan. 29. As is consistent for the WC team, the Shoremen started out strong.
Freshman guard Nolan Waldon stole the ball from the opposing team early in the match, enabling senior forward Ethan Schwantes to sink the first shot. However, that 2-0 lead would be the Shoremen’s last of the night.
The team’s next basket did not come until the tenth minute of play when freshman guard Nicho Simes made a layup from junior guard Ryan Lang. The two worked together to score again, this time with Lang sinking a three-pointer off a pass from Simes. Still, WC trailed 14-7.
The Shoremen scored slightly more points than the Diplomats in the remainder of the half with Simes and Schwantes earning five and four points respectively.
Nonetheless, WC went into halftime down 28-20. The Diplomats shot ahead in the second half, while the Shoremen racked up 12 turnovers and only 17 points.
In the end, they were soundly defeated, 65-37.
Franklin and Marshall climbed to 12-6 on the overall season and 4-2 in the Centennial Conference, while WC fell to 7-11 and 2-4 respectively.
“I think, on the court, as a team we have to connect more,” Simes said. “I think as long as I continue to make the people around me better and make plays, we’ll have success as a team.”
Sadly, that success did not manifest itself on the road against Gettysburg College on Feb. 1.
“I believe our high points within this game were in the first half. We came out strong and confident; everyone on our team was locked in and connected,” freshman forward Ty Woodland said.
Woodland would be the one to restart the Shoremen’s scoring again, doing so with a three-point field goal and two jumpers.
His contributions secured an early lead for WC, 7-4. Then freshman guard Nolan Waldon led the team on a 16-11 run, contributing seven of those points himself.
Unfortunately, the Shoremen scored for the last time in the first half with six-and -a-half minutes remaining, during which time the Bullets were able to close the gap with a 14-0 run and seize the lead themselves.
The two teams went into halftime 37-31.
“Things went wrong toward the end of the first half due to fatigue, mental focus, and just the game of basketball; our run was in the beginning of the game, and they had an explosive run to answer to our hot start,” Woodland said
He was the first to score for the Shoremen in the second half, after which point scoring was nearly equal between the two teams. Even so, the Bullets had simply pulled too far ahead for the Shoremen to catch up.
In the end, WC lost 83-69, falling to 7-12 in the regular season and 2-5 in the Centennial Conference, while Gettysburg rose to 15-4 and 6-1.
Though the Shoremen have faced some demoralizing losses lately, assistant coach Chris King is more focused on the games to come than those that have already transpired.
“There have been some ups and downs this season, but we are excited with the direction of the program,” King said. “With the victories, there have been many lessons learned, and with the defeats, there have likewise been many lessons learned. Our goal is to look for daily improvement and to be our best on the final day of the season. We have already almost doubled last year’s win total and have a lot of season left. We believe we will continue to improve and hopefully become our best selves soon.”
The team will face off against Swarthmore College next week on Feb. 8.
Photo by Darius Kesey.
Photo Caption: Schwantes and company remain in the Centennial Conference playoff chase, currently at sixth of ten teams.