By Jared A’Latorre, Sports Editor
The Bison basketball squad showed heart and no disappointment in their season debut with a whopping 46-point exhibition win over Barclay College.
The crowd was up and ready for the Bison and for Head Coach Jason Eaker’s debut.
The Bison were having fun on all sides of the ball. On the perimeter, the shot was on.
On defense, they picked up some decent takeaways leading to easy scores.
Barclay was not shooting the ball that well, and the Bison took advantage of the off game for the Bears in the shooting game.
With many newcomers, the Bison looked like they were clicking every second.
Even though the new look Bison featured 10 new players, they handled the game well and performed like veterans.
Junior Dishon Lowery was working his opponents down low and came up extremely successful.
Lowery also finished with a double-double in the game.
Senior Davion Turner showed that he was aggressive down low and came up big on defense.
Sophomore Brantly Thompson was on the money with his shot from beyond the arc, and senior Antonio Wade finished in double figures and played splendidly on both sides of the ball.
Before the season began, Wade felt respected with the uniforms that his team received.
The uniforms look like they are ready to begin playing.
“I love the uniforms and warm-up gear we received, we look professional,” Wade said.
Wade was also praising his teammates for the good job they did in their debut. They were a force to be tested in the future starting with the blowout victory.
They shared the workload as a team and everybody seemed like the star.
“The guys were great, and everyone gave a good effort and played unselfishly, that’s all we can ask for every time we play,” Wade said.
He also praised the effort for his coach over the blowout win.
The Bison came into the game well prepared and it started with Eaker.
“Coach Eaker is very detailed,” Wade said. “He works assiduously to improve us in every aspect.”
Wade thinks that for his teammates to be better and for anyone that wants to be better is to be mentored by Eaker. The Bison seem lucky to have Eaker fall into the hands of the players of Bison Hill.
“Any player who wants to be great will develop great respect and appreciation for Coach Eaker,” Wade said.
One of the transfer players, Rashad Lewis, came to OBU and reunited with his assistant coach from Mercer University.
He felt that his team was really focused to come out and play.
“Going into the game, I felt extremely confident in our team,” Lewis said. “We have been working really hard in practice to prepare for it.”
Like his other teammates, he appreciated sharing the ball with his teammates with getting everybody in on the action.
“I enjoyed watching everyone play hard and unselfish,” Lewis said. “Multiple people were involved, and everyone was happy for one another success on the court.”
With Lewis now in a Bison uniform, he feels that the change is not much different as he thought at first.
Eaker was a former assistant at Mercer with Lewis on his squad. “It honestly doesn’t feel any different,” Lewis said.
His history with Eaker shows that they have chemistry on and off the court.
“At our previous school, coach was involved a lot and gave me instructions all through my two years of being there, so transitioning here just felt natural,” Lewis said.
The Bison will take the court in the GAC-MIAA matchup against Washburn and the University of Nebraska at Kerney on the road for Nov. 9
