With less than one month of Mid-American Conference basketball remaining, it’s crunch time. But in the eyes of the veteran players, the late-season scramble is commonplace.
Playing in the last games of their college careers, seniors are beginning to feel the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. They are tasked with playing their best basketball of the year and teaching their younger teammates the ways of the postseason push.
Leading the MAC in scoring and rebounding, the Miami RedHawks’ Julian Mavunga has filled the role of the veteran almost single-handedly. The 6-foot-8, 239-pound forward plays on a roster with just one other senior, Adam Thomas.
Mavunga averages 16.8 points per game along with 9.4 rebounds, but his most difficult task hasn’t been avoiding double-teams. The forward’s biggest obstacle has been guiding the RedHawks’ young roster through a frustrating season.
Further up the standings, another MAC East team has relied on its senior leadership. Second-place Kent State has four seniors, including standouts Michael Porrini and Justin Greene, in its lineup.
“I’ve been very happy with our kids,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “We went through a stretch where we were 2-3 (in the MAC) … and our seniors did a great job of stepping up in practice and really taking some ownership and some leadership. It obviously made a difference.”
Greene leads the Golden Flashes in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game. Doing the work behind the scenes is Porrini, who leads the team with 4.8 assists per game.
Though their styles are complementary, the seniors have united on the boards. Greene and Porrini have combined for an average of 11.4 rebounds per game.
“I’m hopeful that the senior leadership will make a difference, but you never know until the games are played,” Senderoff said. “We’ll see how much of an impact it has.”
In the MAC West, veteran leadership is just as prominent. Eastern Michigan, which leads its division with a 6-6 conference mark, has four seniors on its squad.
Just like Kent State, the Eagles’ leadership comes from two experienced players. Seniors Darrell Lampley and Antonio Green have scored the most points for Eastern Michigan’s struggling offense.
Lampley averages 13 points and 2.9 assists per game, both team-leading statistics. Defensively, Green leads the Eagles with 1.4 steals per game.
Pressuring their division-leading in-state rival are the Western Michigan Broncos, another MAC West team with a vanguard of experienced players.
Aside from the contributions of 6-foot-9 sophomore Matt Stainbrook, the Broncos have benefited from the play of a trio of fourth-year veterans whose consistency has kept the team afloat.
Demetrius Ward, Mike Douglas, and Flenard Whitfield combine for an average of 34 points per game. Ward and Douglas, both guards, lead the team in assists per game with 3.2 and 4.8, respectively.
mm9389@ohiou.edu
