Pioneers soar into nationals
by David Kolek
With two thrilling home playoff victories last week, the Lewis & Clark men's basketball team won the NCIC conference tournament and thus qualified to play in the NAIA II national tournament in Nampa, Idaho.
This is the first conference tournament championship for the Pioneers since the 1994-95 season.
The Pioneers did not win the regular season conference championship, however. That honor went to Whitworth College, who by virtue of their record during the regular season, also qualified for the national tournament.
The last time the Pioneers won the regular season conference tournament was also in the 1994-95 season when LC seniors Whitney Brake, Brooks Meek, Jeff Flowers, Justin Henderson and Carl Schreck were freshman.
"Though we won the tournament when we were freshman, this seems like the pinnacle because it's our last year," said Shreck.
Now these six seniors, along with the many younger faces that have complemented these cagey veterans throughout this up and down season, march on to the national tournament.
They will travel to Idaho and join thirty-one other teams from across the country in the tournament which commences play on Wednesday, Mar. 11 and culminates with the crowning of the national champion on the following Tuesday.
When asked about their chances in the tournament, Schreck was cautious, but confident, "having our main core of players so experienced with tournament play, coupled with our playing the best basketball of the season, we have a great chance to make some waves at the tournament."
These past five years have been good years for men's basketball at LC. Coach Bob Gaillard, who was named Co-Coach of the Year for the NCIC this season, has taken squads to the tournament in all five of the past seasons.
In the 1993-94 season the Pioneers got as close to the national championship as LC has ever been in basketball, eventually losing in the Final Four.
In the three most recent seasons, the Pioneers have been eliminated in the second round.
It is sure to be an exciting tournament with some of the best teams in the country fighting for the national championship, and the Pioneers are bound to be in the thick of the action.