Western men not content with just returning to regional field
Mar. 9—Destiny is the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future.
Another word for it is fate.
The Missouri Western men's basketball team entered last week's MIAA Tournament with a chance to control their destiny: Win the championship, and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Instead, the Griffons weren't competitive in the semis against a Washburn team they have beat four-straight meetings. So they had to rely on fate guided by their body of work over a 24-game campaign.
"We had that chance in the conference tournament and we let it slip away from us. We left fate in the hands of the committee," coach Will Martin said. "I think because of our guys, by their work this year and before, fate was in their favor. We weren't certain we were gonna get in.
"There's a little bit of nerves, but I have faith in our team and the body of work we put together this year. I'm happy the committee saw that, also."
The result was the selection committee tabbing Western (14-10) as the No. 6 and final seed in the Central Region, set to begin Saturday in Aberdeen, South Dakota. It's Western's first regional appearance since the 2009-10 season. Since that year, Western had finished below .500 nine-straight years until an 18-14 record a season ago, resulting in a fourth-place MIAA finish.
"We're not hanging our hats on just getting to the regional," senior Jonathan Mesmacque said. "It's a big accomplishment to be in after that many years of Missouri Western not being in the regional, but we're not satisfied."
The Griffon team from the first half of the season seemed to be a near-lock for the regional. The Griffons started 8-1 with wins over Missouri Southern and No. 5 Washburn before a loss at Nebraska-Kearney.
Western paused activities 12 hours later due to COVID-19, and half the team contracted the virus in the coming days. The effects took weeks for the Griffons to overcome, losing seven-straight games, including a span of four in six days where Martin missed three games.
"It means the world to us. It really validated the points of our coaches at the beginning of the year, just being ready for anything," Mesmacque said. "It was really challenging, but we battled and stayed together as a team. That's what it's all about. I know it's cliche, but when you really apply and believe in something with a common vision with people, you can really accomplish something special."
The Griffons won five of six to end the regular season before an overtime win against Lincoln in the MIAA quarterfinals, all but locking in their spot for the regional. But without point guard Tyrell Carroll due to injury and losing 101-72 to Washburn, the Griffons had to sweat for 48 hours between the loss and selection show.
But with history made and Washburn awaiting the Griffons again on Saturday, and the lone tangible goal set since coming to St. Joseph now accomplished, there's even more left to do.
"I told them to feel the 30-point loss to Washburn two nights ago, so I told them to feel this, too. Once you feel it, you've gotta own it, then move on," Martin said. "We're not going into this thing hanging our hat on the fact we made it.
"We wanna win it."
Brandon Zenner can be reached at brandon.zenner@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowZenner.
