By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE NCAA Division I basketball season is still days away from tip-off but several Bahamians got an early start to their 2022-23 campaigns with exhibition games.
Yolett McPhee-McCuin and Ole Miss paid homage to a Mississippi basketball legend while Fredrick King and Lathaniel Bastian had the opportunity to suit up for their respective programmes for the first time.
Ole Miss defeated Delta State 80-38 inside the SJB Pavilion in a game that also served as a tribute to the late Hall of Famer and Delta State basketball legend Lusia Harris Stewart.
“Just grateful nobody got hurt, this game was bigger than us getting the win it was us trying to figure out who we are going to be as a team,” McPhee-McCuin said. “And then obviously, Lusia Harris, this game meant alot to me to keep her name alive, to keep her story alive. One of the Mississippi greats, we try to honour her as much as possible, we’re just thankful to Delta State and thankful to fans who came to the game.
Harris Stewart won three major college NAIA national championships in the mid 1970s while starring at Delta State. She became the first and only woman ever officially drafted by an NBA team - the New Orleans Jazz.
“Last year, we felt incredibly moved, I know me personally, by the death of the original queen of the ‘Sip,” said McPhee-McCuin of Harris Stewart prior to the game. “We celebrated her with our shirts. That is how the whole Delta State opportunity for us came about. It’s just a team that is rich in history and tradition and dominated for a long time.”
Ole Miss opens the season on November 7 against Kennesaw State.
Freshman big, Frederick King, had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in his first game in a Creighton Bluejays uniform.
Creighton dominated Drury 109-97 in last night’s exhibition in Omaha, Nebraska. He shot 5-9 from the field but left an additional five points at the free throw line on 0-5 shooting.
The Bluejays were selected to finish number one overall in the Big East when the conference announced its preseason poll. They finished last season 23-12, fourth place in the Big East Conference regular-season standings, and runner-up in the league tournament.
After receiving an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they defeated San Diego State in the first round before they lost in the second round to eventual national champion Kansas Jayhawks. King joins a roster that returns three double figure scorers from last season, several players that received all-conference honours.
A 6’10” frontcourt player out of the NBA Academy (Latin America), he decided on the Bluejays over the BYU Cougars, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Utah Utes.
Creighton will open its regular season on November 7 against St Thomas.
Junior transfer Lathaniel Bastian played his first game as a member of the Cal State Fullerton Titans. He finished with four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of his team’s 92-51 win over La Verne.
Bastian is one of nine new players and five transfers to a Titans programme that came in at no.7 on the Big West Conference preseason men’s basketball coaches’ poll.
Fullerton opens up the season on the road against San Diego State on November 7. “We’re excited to use these games to grow and develop our team,” Titans head coach Dedrique Taylor said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of these games to help us prepare for making another run at winning the Big West Conference Championship and playing in the NCAA tournament!”
Cal State Fullerton finished with a 21-11 overall record and an 11-4 record in conference play last season. They were the champion of the Big West Conference Tournament and earned a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The programme also has a Big West Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
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