It is almost time for another season of Pacers men’s basketball. Marywood’s first game is tomorrow evening against the Clark Summit University Defenders. The Defenders will be host with the opening tipoff at around 8 p.m. Marywood looks to extend its 10-game winning streak against the Defenders, dating back to 2014.
Last season, the Pacers finished with a 10-16 record overall and were 3-9 in conference play. This was Marywood’s most overall and conference wins since 2018 and the effort landed the Pacers the sixth seed in the Atlantic East Conference Playoffs. In the first round, Marywood traveled to Gwynedd Valley to face the Gwynedd Mercy University Griffins. The Pacers ended up losing the matchup 95-75 to end their season.
Marywood is going to have their first season since 2017 without star Jason Holman. During his time at Marywood, Holman was a two-time team MVP, First Team All-Atlantic East Conference and Second Team All-Atlantic East Conference. The 6-foot-6 forward led the team in points per game during the 22-23 and 21-22 season. The Taylor native finished his career with 89 games played, 961 points and 391 rebounds. The Pacers have some big shoes to fill.
Last year, the Pacers were an extremely young team. The squad consisted of 10 freshmen, six sophomores, six juniors and only one senior. This year there is one freshman, six sophomores, four juniors and five seniors on the roster. Marywood’s coaching staff is led by head coach Jon Showers. Showers has over a decade of coaching college ball experience with Division III and II schools. Showers is entering his second season as the Pacers head coach and Xavier Harris will be assistant coach.
Two players that can take the next step for the Pacers could be Brendan Franko and Trevor Seitz. Franko averaged 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. The junior had a .380 three point percentage, one of the highest marks on the team. The 6-foot-2 guard looks to take a bigger role in scoring since the departure of Holman. Seitz put up 11 points and 4.7 rebounds per game a year ago. The 6-foot guard played in all 26 games for the Pacers and started in 25. He was a playmaker on the court as he accumulated 104 assists in those games. The senior also collected 24 steals for the Pacers.
Another player that can make a splash this year is Cole Johnson. Johnson is the tallest player on Marywood, standing at 6 feet, five inches. The forward was a monster on both sides of the floor last season, putting up 10.2 points per game and shooting .318 from deep. The senior also starred defensively as he rejected 17 shots last season. Now, Johnson also looks to take on a larger role for the Pacers.
One area Marywood should focus on is cutting down turnovers. Last season, the team gave up 431, an average of over 16 turnovers per game. The Pacers are going to have to play clean basketball in order to win in this competitive division. Also, the Pacers need to improve boxing out and racking up rebounds. They have been struggling with rebounding the past few seasons and last year averaged 36.5 a game. This ranked fourth in their conference and placed sixth in defensive rebound per game, with 25.4. Franko and Seitz are the primary rebounders for Marywood, but the team desperately needs a consistent glass cleaner.
There are multiple match ups the Pacers have circled on their calendars. The first game that pops out has to be the one against the Keystone College Giants. Last time they met, the Pacers scored a buzzer-beater three in overtime to win 93-92. The Giants hosted this match up, so this loss stung them all season. They have had to wait a whole year to get their hands on the Pacers again. Now, Marywood will host the rematch on November 14 at 7 p.m., their first home game of the season.
Another game that should be entertaining will be against Manhattanville College Valiants. This proved to be a very close match up and ultimately came down to the final plays of the contest. With 13 seconds left and down by three, the Pacers had one more chance to make something happen. As the clock hit zero, Marywood fired one final shot but failed to score the basket. This season, the Pacers travel to Purchase, N.Y. to battle the Valiants on December 2 at 4 p.m. The Pacers will also play Gwynedd Mercy University on January 24 and February 13h. Marywood will have a chance for revenge against the team who eliminated them in the Atlantic East Conference Playoffs.
Overall, Marywood has a very exciting year ahead of them.
All stats are from MarywoodPacers.com as of November 2.
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