Runnin’ Lopes Basketball – Men’s Mid Season Update

The Lamar Community College Men’s Basketball Team has closed out the first half of their schedule with a disappointing 4-8 record. The Runnin’ Lopes have played a tough schedule with 8 of their 12 games on the road and taking on 4 teams that have appeared in the NJCAA national polls. “We are definitely not satisfied with our results as a team,” said Head Coach Adam Schwartz. “Our schedule was set up to prepare us for our sub-region schedule, which will be a lot tougher with the new format.” The Lopes schedule does not get any easier as they start the second semester with five straight road games. First at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas on January 10 and then opening Region IX South play with a road trip to Laramie County Community College and North Platte Community College on January 13 and 14th.

Although the results have not been up to par. There have been some bright spots for the Lopes. The Lopes are led in scoring by 6-5 Freshman, Malcolm Brooks. Malcolm is averaging 15 points a game to go along with 2 assists. “Malcolm has become our go to scorer. When we need a basket, the play is going to be for Malcolm.” Commented Coach Schwartz. Another bright spot has been 6-9 Freshman Shore Adenekan. Shore averages 10 points and 7 rebounds. He is shooting a very impressive 64% from the field, which puts him in the top 50 in the country in field goal percentage. “Shore has been great for us, Said Coach Schwartz. He is an absolute load in the paint that has demanded quite a bit of double teams.” Lamar has had some trouble finding another consistent scorer, but have multiple guys that can fill that role. “We have had multiple guys besides Malcolm and Shore put the ball in the basket,” commented Schwartz. “We just need to find that 1 or 2 guys that do it every night.” Trey Beverly a 6-6 Sophomore is averaging 7.4 points and 4 rebounds. “Trey has had a lot of pressure being our only returning starter, he has played better of late and is starting to pick up the slack offensively and on the glass,” said Coach Schwartz. Kenny Peters, a 5-10 Sophomore also averages 7.5 points along with 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals. “Kenny has had to do a lot for us, he has had to play multiple positions and guard the opponents best player,” said Coach Schwartz. He has struggled offensively, but that will change once we can settle him in to one position.” Will Bunton, 6’2 Sophomore and Preston Rayburn, 6’5 Freshman have also had some bright moments. Both average about 6.5 points a game. “Will has proven to be a good shooter and is getting better defensively,’ said Schwartz. “Preston has been very consistent for us, he is a tough match up because of his size, strength and scoring ability from the perimeter,” commented Schwartz. “If we can get Preston to be more aggressive he can definitely be a guy that can take some of the load off of others.

The Runnin’ Lopes are really looking forward to the second semester. They have played a lot better and are starting to gel. “Our guys have started to buy in, it took longer than we would have liked but, we have played a lot better on both ends and have had chances to win ball games as of late,” Said Coach Schwartz. The lopes are looking forward to getting Jalen Caoile, a 6-2 Freshman and DeLance Wilson, a 6-3 Sophomore back from injury. “Jalen and Delance will give us some more depth,” said Schwartz. “We have struggled at the point guard position and Jalen will definitely help, DeLance will bring some competiveness and toughness to our team that has been lacking at times.”

The LCC men’s basketball team returns from break in early January and will play their first home on January 25, 2012 against Trinidad State. “We have played much better in our last five games,” said Schwartz. “Our results do not match our expectations and the players are working extremely hard to correct that.” “We have a ton of potential and with our consistent improvement we are trying to be a team that no one wants to play in March!”

Chloe-Ana Dorris
Wellness Center Director
Lamar Community College
2401 S. Main
(719)336-1678/ (719)688-7847
www.lamarcc.edu