Tip-off to a new season for the Lancers men’s basketball team

By Andrew Heliotis

BELLEVILLE – Despite the Loyalist Lancers dropping two games over the weekend, coach Ryan Barbeau says the men’s basketball team will be much better in Tuesday night’s season opener.

According to Barbeau, losing twice in the David Stewart Tip-off Tournament  in Oshawa is not something he is focusing on leading into tonight’s matchup.

“It wasn’t concerning to me at all. Just a few little things we need to clean up from a coaching staff, and I think we have done that,” said Barbeau

At 8 p.m. the Lancers take to their home court versus a familiar Centennial College team that already has a bull’s-eye on its back after winning the weekend tournament in Oshawa.

“Tonight’s game will be a chance for our guys to redeem themselves from the tournament. It’s a game we know we are capable of winning,” said Barbeau.

A welcome addition to tonight’s roster for the Lancers is power forward Muller Kalala, who has been battling a knee injury for much of training camp. His size and skill will be a valuable asset versus a larger Centennial team.

“Without Muller in the lineup we’ve struggled a bit. He is a big piece of this team,” said Barbeau, who said he feels the Centennials’ size is one of their biggest assets that the Lancers must overcome if they look to start the season off with a win.

“Centennial has a lot of big post players, so we want to take them out of their game, which is scoring down low.”

Both Kalala and Barbeau said they noticed an obvious lack of intensity on the Lancers’ part to start the weekend’s games. Hopefully for the Lancers, playing in front of a home crowd will inspire a quicker more productive start.

“Being it’s a home game, we are gonna start hard with a lot of fire. A home game makes a big difference because you have the crowd behind you. Your family and classmates are there. Playing at home brings more energy out of people,” Kalala said.

This year’s team should be able to improve on last season’s 13-7 record, he said, adding that he expects the team to be in the discussion when provincials get under way in the New Year.