DENVER: A sea of people in crimson and gold flooded the Magnus Arena basketball last week on February 8, 2020, to watch the University of Denver men’s basketball team take on Purdue Univiery Fort Wayne.
The University of Denver men put up a good fight in a close loss against Purdue with a final nail-biting score of 63-70. Fans filled many of the Magnus Arena seats as DU students, faculty and community members came out to support the team. The aroma of the concessions, of hotdogs and pretzels, flowed from the concessions down to the seats. As things began to heat up in the second quarter the team worked together to fight offensively but lagging defensively. Jase Townsend scored 15 points and 13 for Robert Jones for The University of Denver high scoring players for the night. As for Fort Wayne Dylan Carl and Jarrerd Godfrey stood out amongst some of the team’s most valuable players.
The University of Denver is currently ranked last in the Summit Leauge conference whereas Fort Wayne is holding spot number five. Starters for DU included Roscoe Eastmond, Ade Murkey, Jase Townsend, Robert Jones, and Taelyr Gatlin. The team appeared to be enthusiastic, focused and determined. Both teams brought high energy to the game creating a fierce match. There was a lot of great teamwork from Fort Wayne offensively and defensively. When asked about the team DU senior and Team Captin Ade Murkey accounted:
“ I think the team has a lot of promise. Were a young team. I’m the only senior. There’s one junior, four sophomores, and seven freshmen; there’s a lot of potential for greatness from this next group of players.”
The team has had an up and down season but is in line to play for a possible playoff game this year.
“It’s so exciting just to be competing at this level. I’m just happy to be here and able to be even playing for this incredible possibility” said team captain Ade.
With only five more games in the season, the University of Denver boys basketball team has to push through and win all five games in order to qualify for a playoff spot. The next game for the boys is this coming Friday the 14th again at Magnus. Catching up DU player Owen McGlashan shed some light on the team’s overall mood about the season and their strengths and weaknesses.
“The season hasn’t gone exactly the way we wanted it to go so far but all of our main goals are still right in front of us. We have the ability to do something that’s never been done in the history of this program before and that is to make it to the NCAA tournament and win the conference tournament. The thing is we lose games by on average 6.1 pts in conference play and that really just comes down to free throws and a few possessions throughout the game” accounted Owen.
Denver is averaging 68.9 points a game whereas their opponents are averaging 76.4 points per game. Falling short on defense has hurt the team but there is still a chance to make history for the school in 2020.
“I believe our biggest strength is being able to bring energy and effort and being able to keep playing hard when were down. That being said, our biggest weakness is our ability to keep our focus and concentration at a high throughout the whole game and that comes from maturity and being a young team who hasn’t really experienced what it feels like to win in college basketball” concluded Owen.
With only a few games left in the season, the team needs to come together and focus in order to bring home a win in the playoffs.
The MFJS Reporter -- Winter 2020 M-W 
This was a really well written article with helpful statistics that helped keep me informed throughout the story. Also, the quote from a team captain enhanced the article a lot!
LikeLike