Basketball tips off

Coach Sidney Lowe introduced this year’s basketball team in front of approximately 3,500 fans at Reynolds Coliseum for the Red & White game, promising fans “a product they would be proud of.” As for the game itself, it went down to the wire.

Freshman Julius Mays iced the victory for the Red team with a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining. The Red team was led by seniors Ben McCauley and Courtney Fells with 17 and 12 points, respectively. 

“I think a lot of things went well for us tonight,” McCauley said afterwards. “Running up and down the floor is something coach has really harped on us throughout the preseason. We want to push the ball and get some transition baskets.”

Lowe reiterated the team’s fast-paced philosophy, but said he still feels the team can do better in the half-court offense.

“We really want to get the opportunity to push the ball up the court. I wanted to see both groups run a little bit more,” Lowe said. “We still need to be able to execute in the half-court set because good teams are not going to let you to continue to get fast breaks.”

Redshirt junior Trevor Ferguson made the first basket from the NCAA’s extended three-point line — a line marked about 1 foot further from the basket than previous years. Ferguson was unfazed by the extra one foot. He drilled all three of his three-point attempts, including one deep shot. 

Saturday night marked the first appearance in Wolfpack jerseys for five players: Julius Mays, C.J. Williams, Johnny Thomas, Kendall Smith and Spencer Greenway. Lowe had great things to say about two freshmen from the red team. 

“C.J. Williams is just a solid, solid basketball player who just doesn’t make mistakes. He’s always in the right place at the right time, makes the right decisions,” Lowe said. “Now having said that, he’s a freshman so he’s going to make some mistakes but so far he’s been able to keep his poise. So far I think he and Julius [Mays] have done a great job.”

Junior Brandon Costner did not see action in the scrimmage and was dressed in street clothes. According to Lowe, Costner twisted his ankle in practice earlier last week and didn’t feel he was capable of playing. Unfortunately for the Pack, Dennis Horner, Farnold Degand, and Tracy Smith all left the game with, according to Lowe, not serious injuries. All the players except Degand would return in the game.

“There are some battle scars out there and that just goes to show you that everyone is out there playing hard and busting their butts,” McCauley said.

State opens its season with an exhibition game against Fort Valley State Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., once again in historic Reynolds Coliseum.