First off, I apologize for the lack of coverage of the Basketball teams so far this year, as well as our Call The Roll Podcast that has been delayed. Suffice it to say, Russ and I are still learning the ins and outs of how to manage technology, audio recordings, and all that goes with it. We hope to have a cast up this week to discuss all that is going on. That to say, its time to talk hoops.

This past weekend at The University Fieldhouse, it was quite a day as both the Lion Women and Lion Men picked up huge Conferene wins over Houston Christian. The Lion Women took both games in the season series from HCU, while the Lion Men made up for an earlier season loss as CJ Wilson took the ball the length of the court in 4.5 seconds on a fantastic layup to take one from the Huskies. Both squads are in the thick of the Southland Conference race with the entire backstretch of the season left to go. Let’s take a look at the squads season thus far.

Women’s-

First off, a major congrats to Jason Burton as he had quite a Saturday, winning a huge conference game and becoming a Father for the second time, as his Wife Alex gave birth to their second son, Jalen Isaiah Burton, both Mom and Son are doing well, and we are happy for the Burtons. He has a lot to be happy about lately, as he sits in second place with a 7-2 conference record. Like I said earlier, after a 2-10 start, the Lion Women have rallied back to a 7-2 record with a firm grasp on second place, only trailing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who the Lion Women have yet to play. Burton staying with the school despite the Division I move was a great thing because I do know that certain DI schools were looking at Jason and what he has done here, turning a cellar dweller into a national contender very quickly, and becoming the greatest Women’s Basketball Coach in such a short amount of time. We are watching the GOAT of Lion Basketball Women’s Coaches do his thing at his peak and it is an honor and a privilege to watch it. After the way the season started, there is no reason to believe the Lion Women should not finish in the top 3 in the Southland and have a winning record. With 9 regular season games left to go plus the Southland Conference tournament, this one leaves a lot to look forward to. With their fast pace and up tempo style, the Lion Women have been the surprise team no doubt in their first year, but that has shown how dangerous it is to overlook successful programs. The Lion Women take on Nicholls in Cajun country on Thursday, February 2nd at 5. The Lion Women blitzed the Nicholls in their first meeting, 81-48.

Men’s-

Jarret von Rosenberg’s squad has had somewhat of a similar season to their Female counterparts, but did not start with such a rough go. We saw flashes of promise on the Division I Level earlier in the year with Money game wins over Hawaii and the Air Force Academy, along with strong showings against Texas. Also, getting to play in the Indiana classic against some Hoosier state teams was paramount to getting the Men to the place they are in now. Sitting at 6-3 in Southland play and 10-13 overall, the Lion Men are in a 3 way tie for second place. Like Jason Burton, Coach Rose has never had a losing season since they have been in Commerce and this looks to be much the same thing that is being set up. The Lions faced off on the road against the top ranked Southland team, Southeastern Louisiana and barely lost. They are yet to play the other teams they have to face off for the top spot in TAMU-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State. Coach Rose has a great set of shooters that when they are on, are almost impossible to beat, but when they hit the cold, that is different. The only way to remedy that is to take care of the ball and continue to use dribble drive penetration to beat opponents they have a hard time shooting the ball against. The physicality of this team is also something that keeps them in just about any game as they have shown against bigger squads. That is something to keep in mind during the home stretch of the season. The Lion Men face off against Nicholls as well on Thursday, February 2nd, after the conclusion of the Women’s games. The Lion Men lost a heartbreaker at The Fieldhouse to The Colonels 66-63 and look to avenge that loss.