Pirates In Paradise - The Last Day
November 23, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2009
Our final full day in the islands started a little later than usual. Since we had an earlier game today, the coaches elected to allow us to sleep in. Our pre-game meal doubled as breakfast at 10 o'clock downstairs in the banquet room. We watched film for the second time on today's opponent, South Dakota State, and reviewed the game plan for our 2 o'clock tip. People don't realize how much preparation goes into each game. Our video coordinator Keena Lynch has been working around the clock this week going over tape and typing up scouting reports for us.
Noon meant it was time to head to the university for our final game of the week. South Dakota State had played their previous two opponents, Iowa and Boston College, pretty tough so we would knew it would be a difficult game. We didn't play well early, falling behind by 20 points. We buckled down towards the end of the half and cut the lead to 12. The second half was an entirely different story. We came out with a sense of urgency and surged to a three-point lead. The rest of the game was filled with lead changes and momentum swings, but we continued to play hard en route to a nine-point victory.
Today's come from behind victory was a big step for this team. Playing through adversity is a lesson this team needed, and I'm sure it will pay dividends throughout the year. Also, the victory over SDSU was the largest come from behind victory for Pirate basketball in the past 28 years.
The ride back to the hotel was certainly more upbeat after a win. We were ready to get back to the hotel and enjoy our last night here in St. Thomas. Because the team wanted to spend some time on the resort, we decided to have dinner on our own here, as opposed to leaving. Almost everyone went down to the beach in time to catch the last sunset of our trip. We met together at 9 o'clock for study hall with our academic advisor Jessica Krasny. She too has been busy this week assisting us with our schoolwork, and we certainly appreciate all of her help.
We had one more team meeting tonight at 10 to watch some highlights from the week and reflect on how we played. It's been an unbelievable week here in paradise. We played some very skilled basketball teams, learned some lessons about us, and got better in the process. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave the hotel at 10 o'clock and are expected to be pulling up to Minges around 11 o'clock tomorrow evening.
This week has been a great experience for all of us, and thank you on behalf of the team for your support. We still have a couple of road games left over the next couple of weeks before we get to play in comfy confines of Minges Coliseum, but we look forward to seeing you then.
Thank you Pirate Nation.
Go Pirates!
