By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western men's basketball team saw their season put on pause for a third consecutive season last week due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Griffon men were scheduled to play home games against Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State, but it was announced last Tuesday that the games would be postponed to future dates still to be determined.
Missouri Western men's basketball coach Will Martin says the biggest task during that shutdown time was simply keeping the team connected.
"We've done a really good job with guys being out making them feel connected and making sure we don't lose any type of momentum," Martin said.
As Missouri Western returned to practice this week, Martin says the biggest key was just getting that everyday rhythm and routine back.
"The monotony of your offense and your defense and your coverages and your spacing and just being in rhythm with everybody, that takes time," Martin said. "When we get back to practice, the guys will probably hate me, because it's going to be very maniacal, it's going to be mundane, it's going to be boring just getting our rhythm and cadence back."
The Missouri Western men are 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA, most recently winning at Missouri Southern 79-65 on December 3 in Joplin - their fourth consecutive win.
Next up for the Griffons is a road game at Washburn (3-6) this Saturday. Martin says that first game back, that first game in 14 days, presents a formidable challenge.
"It will be the toughest game of the year," he said. "If you just look at it holistically. The fact that (Washburn) is 0-3 (in the MIAA), they have an overtime loss and they just had a loss where they were up 18 points at Rogers State. They're going to be ready to go and playing urgent. You add in the fact we've been shut down for a bit."
The Griffon men and women both play at Washburn Saturday (1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) and, then at Emporia State Monday (1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.).
All games will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com).
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