On Dec. 2, the Union University men’s basketball team beat Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, by a score of 77-62. The Bulldogs are now off to a 4-4 start overall.
The team suffered a small run of losses, but quickly acknowledged that there was work to be done. Their practice seems to have paid off.
Tylandrius Parks, graduate student and guard for the Bulldogs, agreed.
“I feel we have gotten off to a rough start but we will continue to get better offensively,” Parks said. “We will see a great turn around soon.”
Parks led the Bulldogs in scoring against CBU with 33 points, shooting an impressive 8/9 from the three-point range.
His optimistic perspective is shared by assistant coach Easton Bazzoli.
“I think our whole team is not discouraged that we’re not playing well right now,” Bazzoli said. “I think we’re starting to see our guys be driven to improve. There hasn’t been any panic because we didn’t have the start we desired.”
Both player and coach emphasized that hard work is key for improvement. Time in the gym outside of practice is what sets the Bulldogs apart.
“We have a group of guys that love to be in the gym,” Bazzoli said. “They spend a lot of time working on their skills. You can’t say that for every team. I think it’s the culture of this year’s team. They’re there during practice time, late at night, and in the morning to get extra shots up and work on their game.”
While offense has been a target area during practices, the team’s defense has been on a steady upward slope all season.
“Against North Georgia, I think we started out really well in that game and definitely had one of our better starts of the year,” Bazzoli said. “We’ve really been able to guard and defend well all year and that’s definitely reflective of our stats.”
As the team sees the beginning of December games, optimism is high. For the next game, the Bulldogs will face off with the University of West Florida on Dec. 9 in Pensacola, Florida.
“I’m looking forward to seeing us get better,” Bazzoli said. “We have had a lot of really good practices recently and I’m looking forward to seeing it pay off for our guys. We’ve been successful on one side of the floor, but not on the other. I know we’re capable of putting that complete game together. I’m excited to see our guys get over the hump and use that momentum throughout the rest of the year.”
Photo courtesy of UU Athletics
A good write up Mat for those of us not there.