11/17/2009

By BOB DAVIDSON

Salina Journal

The video of a recent Baker men's basketball game had not arrived at Kansas Wesleyan as of Monday afternoon in advance of tonight's 7:30 game between the two schools at Mabee Arena.

Wesleyan coach Mike Davert wasn't concerned. He had other matters on his mind -- all of them dealing with his squad.

"I'm more worried about our team," he said. "We've played six games. We're 2-4 and could be 5-1 with the talent level we've got here. I'd like to know more about Baker, but my focus is on us and fixing our problems.

"We're not very good defensively, and we're not very good rebounding. We're not putting forth the effort, and I'm disappointed with that. We're giving up way too many points and are playing really bad defense."

The Coyotes have lost three games in a row and struggled defensively in all three. They lost at Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 73-58 Nov. 6, then lost to Sioux Falls (S.D.) 79-68 Friday in Orange City, Iowa, and 86-83 Northwestern (Iowa) in Orange City on Saturday.

Opposing teams are shooting 46.2 percent from the field and averaging 75.6 points.

"We're individualistic," Davert said. "We can't trust our teammates to be where they're suppose to be, and we break down too easily. It's a matter of not wanting to do it, and we need to fix that. That could mean bringing up some younger players (from junior varsity) and see if they can do it."

Baker (3-2) has won its last two games, over Bethany (71-60) and Ottawa (86-67). The Wildcats lost to Friends (70-63) before the two victories.

Tonight's game is the first home contest of the season for the Coyotes.

"Everyone's looking forward to playing at home, sleeping in their own beds and playing in our gym," Davert said. "This is an important game for us. It's a chance to play a good NAIA Division I team, it's a chance to get better and it's a chance to prepare for (Kansas) Conference play."

KWU women play first

Like the men's team, the Wesleyan women play their home opener tonight against Baker, starting at 5:30 at Mabee Arena.

The Coyotes (2-2) split two games over the weekend in Fremont, Neb., losing to Midland Lutheran (Neb.) 63-56 Friday and defeating Dordt (Iowa) 60-59 Saturday.

"We've been inconsistent," Coach Gordon Reimer said. "We've played well at times and not very good at times.

"That's normal this time of year. We're using a lot of younger players. Talent-wise we're feeling pretty good where we're at. The kids are learning to play with each other, it's just a matter of time."

Reimer will open with a lineup of Shelby Babcock, LaCole Wilkinson, Jamie Alexander, Stephanie Frost and Montric Santee.

Reimer said sophomore guard Jessica Potthoff, one of three returning players from last season, won't play this year because of a knee injury.

Brown Mackie on the road

The Lions (0-4) travel to Great Bend tonight to play Barton County. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

They lost to Independence 84-56 Friday and Kansas City Kansas 93-88 Saturday in the Brown Mackie Classic.

Brown Mackie played its best game of the season against Kansas City Kansas, shooting 57.4 percent from the field and committing just eight turnovers but couldn't overcome 35 points from KCK's Derrick Denny.

Barton County is 5-1 on the season.

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