As we enter the month of December, the men’s basketball team opens up their SCAC (Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) season and faces off against their undefeated rivals, the Trinity Tigers on December 1 . 

The team hyped up their starter players as they were introduced. Both teams took to the courts. As the game began, the Pirates were looking to open their season with a win. Despite this brute determination, the Tigers were quick to take possession of the ball right after the tip off. Very quickly, Trinity threw the ball around in an attempt to spread the Pirates’ defense thin. The Tigers may have come to play basketball, but they were not there to play games. 

 Soon, the ball was passed to Trinity #2, Christian Green, who attempted a layup. Fortunately for the resolute Pirates, #1, Gio Gutierrez, stood his guard and drew a foul from Green. This allowed the Pirates to gain possession of the ball. The Tigers weren’t going to let this possession last long.The ball was passed to Gutierrez, who was instantly cornered by two Trinity players. Gutierrez managed to pass the ball to Pirate #13, Luke Hatcher. 

Hatcher was not going to let the Tigers repossess the ball. He ran down the court and quickly passed it to #22, Brock Luechtefeld, who attempted a layup. He missed, however the ball remained in the Pirate’s possession. One thing about Pirates is that they always guard their treasure–keeping the ball. Unfortunately for the treasure-seeking Pirates, Trinity’s ’s #11, Tanner Brown, stole the ball away. But the Pirates were not going to let the Tigers steal without a fight. 

The first minute of the first half seemed to be a stalemate, but Hatcher swooped in with the ball and scored 2 points, making the first move. The Pirates wanted their treasure, and they were going to do anything to get it. 

After Hatcher’s crafty play, Trinity shortly repossessed the ball. The determined Pirate Gutierrez quickly stole the ball back, ran across the court, and made the layup. The crowd was whooping and hollering at the Pirate’s swift determination to take the game,

 The Pirates began putting up points, leaving Trinity trailing behind. However, the Tigers shut down the Pirates’ advances and quickly caught up. 

The Tigers continued to put up points while the Pirates struggled to find their footing. With 10 minutes left of the first half, the Pirates tightened the defense and slowly started catching up.The seas of the Tiger-Pirate battlefront were raging. 

With 5 minutes left, SU Luechtefeld came to the Pirates rescue and made a layup, leaving a 2 point gap between the two teams. For the remainder of the half, Trinity continues to lead the game with the Pirates closely following behind. The half ended with Southwestern down, 34-40. 

Coming back from the lockers, the pirates came out ready to come back. However, the Tigers were also ready to take the game. Within seconds of the second half, the Tigers were up ten to the Pirates. It was a tough quarter with both teams continuing to put points on the board. 

Five minutes into the half, Pirate #33, Sebastian Lorder, attempted a three pointer. He missed, but fortunately his teammate, #25 Luke Mills was there for the rebound and made the layup.SU’s Pirates know how to work together

Mill’s quick rebound and layup reignited the team’s hopes of catching up and winning. 

The dose of Mill’s motivation led  to the Pirates holding down their defense with visible grit and putting up points. All across the court, the Pirates wore harsh grimaces of determination to defeat the Pirates. 

However, Trinity also readjusted and continued to score points, putting distance between the two teams. The Pirates lost their first conference match, 75-87. 

Although the Pirates lost their first conference match, they battled bravely and closed in the gap between points.. As of December 1, their overall record stands as 0-9; their conference record is 0-2.  More great things are expected from the Pirates in future games.