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November 9, 2000
OBU Tiger Basketball
Mac Sisson
ARKADELPHIA - A more seasoned squad greeted Ouachita Baptist University Tiger head basketball coach Mike Reynolds when fall practice started.
Last year, Reynolds started the season with nine new players and not knowing fully what to expect. The team finished with a 7-18 overall record and 3-10 (8 of 8) in the North Division of the Lone Star Conference.
This season, Reynolds returns four starters and six letterman. "I know we are a much better team this year," he said. "We are more serious and focused as a squad and aware of each other's capabilities. There is a real determination to achieve this season, something we noticed in the off-season and continued in fall practices.
In a very physical league, Reynolds said his team "didn't like the way we played last season. We stepped up the level of conditioning as the result and I hope the results will show."
Between returning players maturing on the court and recruiting fortunes, Reynolds said the 2000-2001 edition of the Tigers has the "right players in the right spot."
On the squad for Reynolds at the start of the new season are three seniors, one junior, three sophomores and eight freshman.
Reynolds will look first to Jarris Kentle, a 6-4, 180-lb. sophomore guard from Pine Bluff (Watson Chapel) and Mauricio Watson, a 6-5, 210-lb. senior forward from Panama City, Panama (Franco Panameno). Kentle was the team's leading scorer (34 points) last season averaging 14.8 and 3.0 rebounds per game. Watson was right behind Kentle in scoring (312 points) and a 13.6 average and 5.5 rebounds. Watson hit 27 of 68 from the arc for a .397 average and hit 111 of 221 for a 51 percent average from the field-both team bests.
"Jarris had a great freshman year," said Reynolds. "He showed his explosiveness during the season. He is a real solid two guard."
"Mauricio is a tremendous athlete," Reynolds said. "He has both inside and outside scoring abilities."
Scoring is something Reynolds is looking for his team to get better at this season. The Tigers were outscored 1,919 points to 1,734 last season (76.8 to a 69.4 point per game average).
Taking the ball down court to set-up the offense will be point guard T.J. Jones, a 6-1, 170-senior guard from Conway. "T.J. is the team leader," said Reynolds. "He is exciting to watch and the team has confidence in his directing our offense."
Jones scored 227 points last season for a 9.1 points per game average. He led the team in assists with 73 (3.0 average). He was 20 of 70 in three-pointers.
Post play for the Tigers was a challenge last season, according to Reynolds. "We were not very strong on the inside," he said. "Now, we have with people with experience to put pressure on the other team's offense, while being able to go to the basket." Last season, Ouachita was outrebounded by nearly seven boards a game (38.5 to 31.8).
On the offense down low, Reynolds will look to the team's top two rebounders back from last season in Hassan Conteh, a 6-6, 200-lb. sophomore forward from Duncanville, Texas, and Tim Lane, a 6-6, 235-lb. . forward from Cleburne, Texas.
"Hassan is going to step-up this year," Reynolds said. "He is really active, a good athlete and a hard worker." Conteh scored 106 points (4.2 average) last season and pulled down 79 rebounds (3.2 average).
Lane scored 129 points last season for a 7.2 per game average. He had 99 rebounds for a 5.5 rebound per game average. "Tim has the advantage of playing hard and consistent," Reynolds said.
Reynolds, now in his 12th year at the helm of the Tiger basketball program, said he was "very pleased" with his recruiting class. "We needed size and got it," he said."The new guys can shoot and play defense."
The freshman class is led by Justin Carpenter, a 6-9, 225-lb. forward from Houston, Texas (Houston Christian). "The sky is the limit for Justin," Reynolds said.
Another player with height and touch for the ball is Richard Whaley, a 6-8, 215-lb. forward from Little Rock (Central). The freshman triple spheres are summed-up in the addition of Lloyd Fusilier, a 6-8, 240-lb. forward from New Iberia, Louisiana (John Wood CC).
Reynolds said his team is looking forward this season to being a part of the Gulf South Conference. "It is going to be exciting," Reynolds said. "We are part of a great league with a rich basketball tradition. It should be a fun time."
Ouachita opens it 2000-2001 season on November 17 with a game in Commerce, Texas against the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions at 7 p.m. The first home game in Bill Vining Arena at the Roy and Chrtistine Sturgis Physical Education Center is November 20 against Lyon College from Batesville. The tip-off is at 7 p.m.
The GSC season does not open until January 6 for OBU when the Tigers play Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi.
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Contact Edith Warren for ticket information: 870-245-5181
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