By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
It's practically déjà vu for Missouri Western men's basketball.
January 14, 2021. No. 16 Missouri Western is on the road, facing Nebraska-Kearney, down a couple of players due to COVID-19. The Lopers come away with a 75-67 upset, and the Griffons go on pause the following day after playing nine conference games.
January 13, 2022. Missouri Western is down four players due to COVID-19 protocol, and Nebraska-Kearney comes away with an 81-79 win in St. Joseph. The Griffons go on pause the following day after playing nine conference games.
"I mean, it's eerily similar to last year," Missouri Western head coach Will Martin said in his second season. "It's crazy how the universe works. We were at Kearney last year. Kearney was here this year before we shut down. And it looks like we'll have a similar type of comeback in terms of teams that we'll play."
The parallels to last season run deeper. When Western came out of quarantine in 2021, they resumed play with games against Central Missouri and Lincoln.
The Griffons are scheduled, this year, to resume play on January 26 against Central Missouri and January 29 against Lincoln.
The Griffons have had four games postponed this month due to COVID protocol. Their home game against Missouri Southern on Jan. 3 was pushed to Jan. 17 due to COVID within the Lions' program - only to be postponed a second time due to COVID in the Griffons' program.
Further, a home game against Fort Hays State and road trips to Newman and Central Oklahoma have been postponed to future dates still to be determined.
"So now, we're having to reschedule a scheduled game," Martin said. "The reality is, there could be some more shutdowns across the league. We cross our fingers and pray that doesn't happen, but it could be a reality. So, we have to be flexible and adaptive."
Missouri Western won six straight games earlier this season before this current five-game losing skid.
Last year, the Griffons were on a four-game winning streak before losing to Kearney, shutting down and losing six more in a row before turning things around and winning five of their next six to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010-11.
Can that happen again?
"I do think our experience through this, the staff and the players, we'll be more positioned to bounce back quicker than we did last year," Martin said. "It's another small hump in the road that we're going to have to navigate through, but I think this team will come back on the other side stronger than ever."
Missouri Western men's basketball certainly isn't alone in dealing with the complications of an ongoing pandemic. They're also not alone in wanting to achiever their ultimate goals going forward.
Prioritizing safety, and getting the whole regular season schedule in before the end of February.
"The health and safety of the student-athletes comes first," Martin pointed out. "But if we reschedule these games and get them all in, and I'm confident we will, because of what this league and what this school and what teams across the MIAA have proven through experience last year."
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