Saturday night’s exhibition game with the Birmingham Bullets ended the pre-season for the MSU men’s basketball team. Although it resulted in an 86-75defeat for the Bulldogs, the loss will not affect the team’s record.
The Bullets, a professional team of the British Basketball League, capitalized on two great shooting performances from Brant Bailey, a 6-foot-8-inch forward, and Ben Walker, a 6-foot guard. Bailey and Walker netted 58 of the Bullets’ points on a combined 21-29 from the field that included a 6-7 effort from behind the three point arc.
Due to an injury to the Bullets’ starting center, they went with a small but very quick lineup that presented match-up problems for the Dogs’ defense. State head coach Rick Stansbury gave credit to the dribble, drive and pitch system that created the necessary openings for the tandem sharpshooters.
“We just were not ready to guard them,” Stansbury said.
On the offensive side of the ball, State showed how early in the season it is.
Some careless passing in the opening minutes allowed the Bullets to jump out to an insurmountable lead. This was helped by the Bulldogs finding the bottom of the net just 13 out of 40 times-32.5 percent-in the first half, while the Bullets were 17 of 35, with six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes of play.
“We just weren’t patient enough tonight, and we missed some easy shots,” Stansbury said.
There were some bright spots in the MSU effort. Sophomore center Mario Austin delivered 26 points, and freshman center Marcus Campbell scored eight points and snagged eight boards in eight minutes of play.
Stansbury said he was pleased with the results when MSU was able to get the ball inside but felt that the team lacked rhythm all night. Timmy Bowers added 11 to the Bulldog scoring effort.
On the boards, MSU outrebounded Birmingham 52-37, with State’s Michal Ignerski grabbing 10 and Michael Gholar pulling nine off the glass. Junior point guard Derrick Zimmerman dished out six assists to lead the passing effort.
State turned up the defensive pressure in the final minutes to try and make a comeback.
This effort was extinguished by the Bulldogs’ cold shooting from behind the arc in the second half. Birmingham closed the game’s result by sinking 17 of 21 second half free-throw attempts.
Although the game’s final decision was not what MSU fans hoped for, the game will be useful for the coaching staff to assess what the team needs extra work on before tipping off the season in this Saturday’s home opener against Nicholls State.
To try to increase student support of the basketball team, a new spirit group will form. On Thursday night at 6 in the president’s room of the Coliseum (near the ticket windows) there will be an organizational meeting that is open to all students. Anyone that is willing to get involved in supporting the basketball team is encouraged to attend.