BRONCOS ARE CONFIDENT THEY WILL GIVE PIRATES THEIR BEST SHOT
Alex Podlogar
FSU is coming off a historic win ahead of playing Division-1 ECU FAYETTEVILLE, NC – One thing is for sure. The Fayetteville State Broncos will not be in awe. Instead, they are intent on going to East Carolina and making it a game with the Pirates. Doesn’t matter that the Pirates are 6-2. Or coached by a former Tar Heel. Or at the Division-1 level. There is a basketball game to be played, and the Broncos are involved. And so they will play. Hard. “Our team wants this game badly,” says Jarmel Baxter (Jr., Davidson, NC), who is second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. “We won’t roll over and we will play to the end.” But being a Division-II program coming off an 8-19 season, Fayetteville State will clearly be the underdog when it hits the hardwood against Jeff Lebo’s Pirates at Minges Coliseum for the 5 p.m. tipoff on Saturday. No matter. The Broncos know that. They understand it. “We’ve got to bring energy,” says Baxter. “And toughness. We have to be tough. ECU will be more physical and will have more experience; that’s just how Division-1 basketball is. But we need to match that intensity and match their toughness. And the coaches have done a good job preparing us to see that, yes, we’re tough, too and that we can have the right energy level.” After all, the pressure will be on East Carolina to perform. The Pirates are expected to win this matchup. But the Broncos are confident. They’ve won three of their first five games – Fayetteville State didn’t collect its third win last season until Dec. 30, 2009 – and are coming off a historic victory over Johnson & Wales on Wednesday night. In the 126-62 victory, the Broncos recorded their third-highest scoring output in a single game in school history. It’s that kind of complete performance – not to mention senior guard Ariel Robinson’s red-hot shooting this season – that have the Broncos feeling like they have a chance to hang with the Pirates. And that’s all the Broncos want – a chance. “We just have to give ourselves a chance,” says Baxter. “We just have to stay tough early and be solid. We can’t think we can go and do it all in the first half. We have to hang around to give ourselves a chance at the end and then try to go take it.” If the Broncos are to pull off the big upset, they will likely need the continued balance they’ve been getting thus far. The 6-foot-5 Robinson (Sr., Coral Springs, FL) has been on a tear, shooting 71.4 percent (15 of 21) from behind the 3-point line in averaging a team-high 17.1 ppg. Baxter, evident by his 25 points against St. Andrews, is capable of carrying the offense while 6-7 forward Sidney Evans (Jr., Durham, NC) goes into the game averaging 12.2 ppg and a team-high 8.6 rebounds. Evans is joined inside by 6-7 center John Herrington (Jr., Jacksonville, NC) and 6-5 Tyrell Tate (Jr., Raleigh, NC), giving the Broncos an active and capable frontcourt. And that balance is evident throughout the lineup as seven Broncos are averaging at least 7.5 points a game. But the Broncos are also wary. They’ve seen the other side of the coin in Johnson & Wales – a team that was overmatched against a team that knew it had an opponent right where it wanted them, and then took advantage. Baxter says it is imperative for the Broncos to keep that in mind as they go to play East Carolina. “(Johnson & Wales) was the type of game where you have to expose your opponent and make sure you go out and do what you have to do on offense and defense,” he says. “With ECU, it’s the same thing. If you don’t do the types of things you are supposed to do, one mistake, one slip-up, they will take advantage of it and try to expose you.” At the least, it is clear that Fayetteville State is entering Saturday’s game with the correct mindset. Whatever happens after tipoff is anybody’s guess, although it is clear that the Pirates are going to get the Broncos’ best shot. “I think we’re excited to play,” says FSU head coach Alphonza Kee. “They’re ready to play every game, and playing East Carolina is a tremendous opportunity. “East Carolina is an up-and-coming program, and it’s exciting to play a team that you must play well against. But we’re excited about all the games.”