Basketball Team Travels to Canada
By Gabe Taylor
For most collegiate basketball programs, the season is still more than a month away, but for the Santa Clara men's team, gaining in-game experience has already been scratched off their to-do list.
While Santa Clara students flooded back onto campus for the beginning of a new school year, the Broncos headed north to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Going up against four Canadian universities, Santa Clara concluded the foreign tour with a 2-2 record.
"As always, it takes a couple of games to get the feel of each other," said junior Ray Cowels.
After losing overtime games to Trinity Western (108-100) and the University of British Columbia (98-85), the Broncos responded with victories against the University of Fraser Valley (87-84) and University of British Columbia (68-63) to close out the trip.
But there was much more to the games than simply winning or losing. The tour offered the freshmen a chance to experience playing time, while allowing the veterans to shake off any rust from the offseason.
Freshman point guard Brandon Clark recorded 16 points against Fraser Valley, and freshman forward Karim York contributed eight points in Santa Clara's loss to British Columbia. Redshirt freshman Julian Clarke appeared as a bright spot in the Bronco offense, tallying 15 points on 5-6 from beyond the arc.
"It was good for the younger players to get acclimated and learn how each other play," said Cowels.
Kevin Foster put up his most stat-worthy performance against Trinity Western when he scored 23 points and snatched 11 rebounds.
"Not a lot of teams get to play as early as we did, so once the season comes we'll be ready and we won't have to jump back and cover the bases," said Cowels.
In addition to the four games played, Santa Clara squeezed in 10 practices to go along with various team bonding outings that ranged from partaking in a scavenger hunt, to maneuvering across a suspension bridge and zip-lining on Grouse Mountain.
Although propelling the team to a head start in their 2011-2012 NCAA Tournament campaign, the tour was not void of negatives.
Santa Clara was dealt a monstrous blow when senior Marc Trasolini landed awkwardly after attempting a shot in the opening minutes of the Broncos' first game. The diagnosis: a torn ACL.
After a memorable past season averaging 12.8 ppg, along with 6.1 rebounds and helping guide Santa Clara to a College Insider Tournament Championship, Trasolini will be forced to the sideline for the upcoming season.
"Marc's always going to be part of our team. He's just going to have to take on a different role now," said sophomore forward John McArthur.
The mentality of the team, however, has gone unscathed.
"We're approaching it with the same mindset," said Cowels. "The personnel is going to change a little bit, but other than that our aggression and our style of play might not change too much."
With experience now under their belts, the Broncos are already forming a team identity. McArthur recognizes that for some teams, this sense of unity can take nearly an entire season to emerge.
"Now, we're coming together as a team, stepping up as a team, and doing what we need to do to take care of business," said McArthur.
Coach Kerry Keating and the Broncos open up the season on Nov. 4 when they take on Ryerson in an exhibition match at 7 p.m.
Until then, the games in Canada will serve as a starting point for the Broncos' voyage to postseason play.
Contact Gabe Taylor at (408) 551-1918 or gtaylor@scu.edu.