The USAO men’s basketball team ended its quest for a national title on March 13 in the opening championship round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The Drovers never could overcome the three-point fury that Oklahoma Wesleyan University threw at them. OWU players hurled three pointers at USAO till they were blue in the face. That game ended the season with a final score of 100-73. The USAO men ended the trimester 17-3 overall and 9-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.

The final score inevitably got the Drovers thinking back on their season and recapping their favorite memories.

USAO sophomore point guard and psychology and sociology double major Tre’veon Ellis bounced back from thumb surgery in December to play through this season, which he said never stopped feeling like “family.”

“Honestly, there was never a moment when I didn’t feel like I wasn’t a part of a team. This year’s group of guys embodied the word ‘family’ in everything we did, and it showed,” he said.

Dylan Causwell is the only senior on the team graduating this year, which leaves eleven athletes to take USAO back to the national tournament next year. Among those will be his younger brother, Jaden.

A sophomore forward, Jaden Causwell was the lead scorer the night of the opening championship game with 13 points.

“Honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind that I had scored the most points at the end,” said Causwell. “I just remember being so focused on winning and staying ready when my name was called, I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted to give it my all.”

Head Coach Chris Francis caught Covid at the end of the season, which made for a more difficult lead up to the national tournament.

“We faced a lot of adversity with Covid from the first week of school until the end of season. The guys had to come together quick if we wanted to accomplish what we put in front of us,” said Francis. “We had many obstacles to overcome that usually don’t happen in a season ­– two winter storms, a cancelation due to other teams’ Covid protocols, to me catching Covid and having to miss the conference tournament. I believe it was early we came together because, if we hadn’t, I don’t think we would have been so successful this season.”

USAO’s players are already thinking about adjustments they can make for next year when they return to the national tournament.

“If we go into the national tournament again, one thing I’ll do differently is never let my highs get too high and my lows get too low. In sports there are so many back-and-forth highs and lows so with that you send your mind through an emotional rollercoaster. Next year I’ll be sure to keep everything ‘balanced’ as far as [feelings] go,” said Ellis.

Francis agreed.

“The team had to jump through hoops to continue to even play in the [Sooner Athletic Conference] tournament for safety protocol and they did everything that was asked with no excuse,” Francis said. “Hopefully next [year] we will have somewhat of a normal preparation, which gives the guys a different feel heading into a big postseason.”

Francis praised his assistant coach for keeping things going while Francis was sick.

“Coach [Josh] Roach did a great job at stepping in while I was gone and leading the guys to a [conference] championship, so it all worked out the way it was supposed to,” Francis said. “We have one of the best incoming coaches as an assistant so there was never a doubt, he would get them ready.”

Erin Lynch is a senior communication major from Yukon, OK.