Men’s basketball team loses final home games of season

The Chadron State men’s basketball team played its final two home games and celebrated the careers of its seniors this weekend, hosting the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Friday and Metro State University, Denver, Saturday. The Eagles lost both games by 20 or more.

Friday night was a less suspenseful affair for the Eagles (6-16, 4-14 RMAC after Friday night), as they seemed to come out flat from the start against UCCS (15-10, 12-6 RMAC after Friday night). At halftime, they found themselves trailing 53-27. Although the Mountain Lions still outscored the Eagles in the second half, things were much more balanced in the scoring column. However, the damage had already been done as UCCS capped its stellar first half with a 47-point second half effort to drop 100 points on the Eagles.

For the Eagles, Sharif Black, sophomore guard of Detroit, led the way offensively with 23 points, going 13 of 14 from the charity stripe. Black also shared a team high in rebounds with Davante McCallam, senior forward of Miami, with each snatching seven. Billy Johnson, junior of Cedar Hill, Texas, added 17 points for Chadron State.

Saturday night was a special evening for the Eagles, as they celebrated the careers of their seniors: McCallam; Justyn Anderson, of Las Vegas; and Jay Feltson, of Saginaw, Michigan. With Metro (16-9, 14-5 RMAC) being at the top of the conference, a win on senior night for the Eagles would have been nothing short of a season—and for some—a career highlight. However, they would fall short in a 75-53 loss due to a forgettable team shooting effort.

The Eagles, now 6-17 and 4-15 in conference play, shot about 38 percent from the floor and just 30 from 3-point range. The team saw 10 of 11 active players score at least one bucket. However, no player finished in double figures.

Putting stats and game outcomes aside for a few moments, the Eagles took time prior to their matchup with the Roadrunners to honor McCallam, Anderson, and Feltson. Each player was introduced to the fans with notes of his achievements as a player and a student.

Despite a losing effort in their last time in Chicoine, each player soaked in the experience with a great deal of pride and humility.

“It was a surreal feeling, especially having sat out the past month (due to injury),” Anderson said. “I had the time to really reflect on what it has meant to play here and have everything I’ve gone through culminate with this final game. It was a one-of-a-kind feeling.”

Feltson described his final time playing in Chicoine as “bittersweet.”

“We’ve got the best fans in the RMAC, and not being able to play in front of them again sucks,” Feltson said. “But at the same time, I’m happy to see the appreciation that everyone showed Justyn, Davante, and myself on our senior day.”

The last hurrah for McCallam was “definitely different and strange.”

“Instead of going into the gym thinking ‘Let’s get this win,’ I wanted to soak up the experience and all that was going to happen, and then play,” McCallam said. “Just to know that it would be the very last night that I would put on that white CSC jersey, it was depressing but yet a reminder that this is just the end of this chapter and the start of a new one.”

With a few road games still remaining on the schedule and the Eagles being out of postseason contention, these three guys and the rest of the team still look to end on a high note.

“The mindset never changes from what it has always been,” Anderson said. “We want to play the best game of basketball that we can each and every night out.”

Anderson notes that with only three seniors on the team, the focus should be to gain momentum moving into the offseason to build from and be ready for next year.

While Anderson has competed this year as a graduate student, McCallam and Feltson are both set to complete their undergrad studies in May and August, respectively.

Post-graduation, Feltson, a communications major, hopes to go home and get a job writing sports articles for the Cincinnati Enquirer; McCallam, a business major, simply plans to continue his athletic career, hoping to find work with a professional basketball team overseas; and Anderson will return to Chadron to finish his Masters of Science in organizational management.

The Eagles will hit the road this weekend to take on Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, and Westminster College, Salt Lake City.