Coming off of a 13-13 season last year, the men's basketball team is ready to bounce back and compete for the NCAC championship in the upcoming season. Despite being ranked third in the NCAC preseason conference polls, the Tigers are focusing on short-term goals.
"I think we got to keep our goals short and not think too far ahead right now," senior forward Barry Flynn said. "Just take it a game at a time really. We want to get off to a good start this weekend."
Flynn returns as the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.3 points and seven rebounds per game last year. Flynn and fellow senior guard Kevin Sullivan, who is currently nursing a foot injury, will attempt to lead a relatively young Tigers team this season.
"We're hoping we are able to get Kevin back soon," head coach Bill Fenlon said. "He and Barry are developing into pretty good leaders for our group."
Fenlon, who currently has the most wins in DePauw men's basketball history, is entering his 21st season at the helm. He is hoping that his team can learn from a couple of close two- and four-point losses last year and turn those games into wins.
"That was a function of just a couple better decisions over the 40 minutes and taking care of the details a little bit better," Fenlon said. "Hopefully, we gained a little experience from that and can build on it so when we find ourselves in those situations, we will be two or four possessions better than we were last year."
In order to win some of those tight games, the team looks to rely on its depth. Depth is a key strength for this team early on.
"Everyone is figuring out what their role is this year, and we're almost there," Flynn said. "We just need to keep working."
However, in order to achieve the type of success the Tigers want, the team will need to improve on its defense as well as rebounding. Fenlon cites those aspects of the game as part of the reason for last year's struggles.
"I'd like to see us be a little more aggressive on the defensive end and on the boards," he said. "If we can be a little bit better at going to get the ball and taking it away, the team will be improving like I want it to."
The Tigers open up the season this weekend in the Ohio Mount St. Joseph Tipoff Classic against Thomas More College and Mount St. Joseph. They will play games at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
