Blue team wins Blue and White Scrimmage
Fans got a glimpse of this year’s men’s basketball team on Friday night as the team held the Blue and White Scrimmage open to the public. The team’s first two 10-minute sessions were closed and the last two were opened up so that anyone could watch. The Blue team won the scrimmage 85-59.
Jaycee Carroll led the way for the Blue team with 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He also finished two for four from the 3-point line.
“Today felt good,” Carroll said. “Everyone gets a little more excited when people are watching and play a little harder.”
Returning forward Chaz Spicer had 19 points as he split his playing time between each squad. Senior Durrall Peterson scored 16 points to go along with seven assist. He not only played shooting guard, but also saw some action at point guard as well.
Many fans came to get a look at the nine new players added to the roster this year. Junior college transfer Mikel Watson did his part to impress in setting up the offense and finishing off with 12 assist.
“The improvement he made from a week ago mentally was impressive; he was real stable and solid and he can create some opportunities for us,” Head Coach Stew Morrill said.
Other newcomers who left a mark on the game were Stephen DuCharme, Brayden Bell and O.J. Harrison. Bell, who has to sit out this year due to transfer rules, had 17 points and 6 rebounds. DuCharme had 12 points and said that although playing in front of a crowd causes the jitters, it is good to do and players respond to the crowd.
“Most of the guys are going to play good in front of a crowd,” he said.
Morrill, not satisfied with the team’s consistency, did say that it was important to remain positive.
“I was encouraged about our mental state and effort level from last week to this week,” he said. “We have got to make progress day by day.”
The Aggies will now have only three practices before opening the exhibition season against EA Sports at home on Wednesday.
“Our practice habits are going to be key for us. There are a lot of question marks, and to try and have a starting lineup by Wednesday really won’t mean much.”
He explained that determining starters for a couple of positions will be like a coin toss, because there is no clear front-runner.
Before the open sessions started, Morrill had a few words for the students, saying, “I want to promise you that these guys (pointing to his lined up players) will work hard and will get better.”
After encouraging the students to worry about this year’s team and not look at the past, he gave some advice to the students on how they could help out this year.
“This is an unbelievable atmosphere. You are a huge part of that,” he said. “Keep acting stupid! I always say don’t go over the edge, but come dang close.”