Eagles open season against Huskers

By Eben Rosentrater

The CSC men’s basketball team opened up the 2022-2023 season with an 87-60 exhibition loss in Lincoln against the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.

After coming off their best season since 2014, the Eagles were eager to get back out on the court with hopes of seeing more improvement. Despite the Eagles’ rough loss to the Huskers, CSC Head Men’s Basketball Coach Shane Paben believes there is a lot to look forward to for both his players and their fans.

“Obviously, they’re a Big Ten opponent,” Paben said to CSC Sports Information. “They were able to grab offensive rebounds and get points underneath the basket, just because of their sheer size. But we competed and gave a great effort.”

The Eagles started off the game well. Porter Anderson, junior of Russellville, Arkansas, set the tone early, getting underneath the hoop and slamming a dunk for the first score of the game. The Eagles continued to roll after that, hitting nine of 15 shots at the beginning of the first half. The team held the lead or were tied for a large portion of the first half, a shock, especially against the Division I Huskers.

However, midway through the first half, the Huskers began to hit their stride, scoring 12 unanswered points and breaking away from the Eagles by a large margin. The Eagles kept it manageable going into halftime trailing 43-28.

The Eagles were able to bring the game back within reach after scoring nine unanswered points and cutting the Husker lead to just six. However, the Huskers fought back, shooting 50 percent from the three-point line. Conversely, the Eagles hit just 33 percent of their shots in the second half leading to an 87-60 loss.

For scoring, the Eagles were led by Bryce Latimer, junior of Stone Mountain, Georgia, who scored 12 points. Freddy Reeves Jr., junior of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Anderson also combined for another 19 points. Reeves Jr. also led the Eagles in three-point shooting hitting two. The team hit the boards fairly well with 33 rebounds, but suffered in the turnover battle with 18 total, six more than the Huskers.

“It was a great experience for the team the whole weekend,” Paben said. “We have some things we can go back and work on, like untimely turnovers, but we’re not going to see any team like that for the rest of the year.”

The Eagles will begin regular season play in Laredo, Texas when they take on the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International on Nov. 11