Heather McClellan
Review staff writer

After being undefeated last year, the start of the men’s basketball season has been rough, with only one win, against Western Oregon University, and three losses, against Northwest Christian College, Concordia University of Portland and Warner Pacific
College.
“We’re not off to the start that we had hoped for,” senior co-captain and point guard Jonathan Weber said. “In two of the games, we lost by two and once in overtime, so we are really close to being 4-0.”
Although the team is without a great record, these first losses have not affected the chances it has to move on to conference championships because they were non-conference games.
“We are having trouble finishing out games,” co-captain senior forward Erik Olson said. “We are going back to the basics to work on the little things to help us improve.”
The team is now under pressure to improve its performance after losing three early-season games, Weber said.
“We have a great team with a lot of potential,” Olson said. “We need to speed up the learning curve and build up our momentum.”
The team is working hard during practice to improve and fine-tune its game.
“I am impressed with the way that the team members have related to each other,” Weber said. “We are coming together as a tight-knit group. But the new players are still getting used to playing together.”
The ’Cats will play Evergreen State College on Dec. 12, followed by Corban College on Dec.13.
“The game against Evergreen will be a good test for us,” Olson said. “It will be the toughest game that we’ve played yet.”
Whitworth University and the University of Puget Sound are two of the team’s biggest competitors in the Northwest Conference, Olson said.
“There is no clear favorite in the conference,” Olson said. “But Whitworth has won back-to-back championships. They have a proven method that makes it so they don’t lose very often.”
The ’Cats play Whitworth in a conference game Jan. 10 in the Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
“It is always more fun to play in a packed gym than in an empty one,” Olson said. “We really like to have student support during our games.”