Pratt, Kan. - The Pratt Community College men's basketball team is ready to open conference play after two back-to-back weekend trips against four teams, three of which are nationally ranked. The Beavers will enter the conference schedule with a 4-2 overall record. When asked about the non-conference schedule, head men's basketball coach Kenny Eddy had this to say, "it was about getting these guys' experience. We have a younger team, so we needed to get these guys used to traveling and getting off the bus, playing a game, and taking it seriously."
The Beavers will play two ranked opponents to open conference play first against No. 24 Cowley College at home on Wednesday, November 20 and then they will travel to No. 6 Butler Community College on Saturday, November 23 at 6:00 p.m. "We have been telling them about the conference schedule since August when they got here. And now it is here, and we have number 24 ranked Cowley and number six ranked Butler on Saturday. They are going to figure it out one way or another. I just hope that they can come out and get into a little bit of a rhythm, because we are not playing on back-to-back days throughout the conference season like we have over the last two weeks," said coach Eddy.
The No. 24 ranked Cowley College Tigers will enter the Beaver Dome with a 5-1 overall record with wins against Labette Community College, NOC- Tonkawa, Allen County Community College, and Southwestern College (JV). Their only loss came against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College 75-68. The Tigers will be led by sophomore Shamarrie Hugie who leads the team with 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
"They bring back the pivotal role pieces from last year's tournament team. They lost a little bit of their star power with some guys moving on. But the guys that win you games late are all back so that they are going to be a tough opponent," said coach Eddy.