FORT WAYNE – Even though the season is nearing an end, Tony Jasick’s glass remains more than half full as far as his IPFW men’s basketball team is concerned.
Yes, there is still his team’s four-game losing streak that has to come to a screeching halt. He hopes it’s tonight when the Mastodons (9-10, 3-6 Summit League) face North Dakota State (13-6, 6-3) at 7 p.m. at the Gates Center.
But even in a pair of losses last week at league-leading Oral Roberts, 65-54, and Southern Utah, 58-56, there were positive signs for the Mastodons.
“We made some progress on the defensive end,” Jasick said.
The combined 123 points are the best back-to-back defensive games the Mastodons have had all season.
“I think (the game against) Oakland may have kind of hit home; that we need to do a much better job on the defensive end,” Jasick said, referring to IPFW’s 94-86 home loss nearly two weeks ago. “When you score 86 points and lose, I think it can be an eye-opening experience for a team.
“Our team’s getting better. We’re defending better. That’s where it starts and that’s been our Achilles’ heel, so to speak.”
Even though IPFW is averaging nearly 72 points, it is giving up an average of 75.2. And that includes an 84-68 loss to the incoming Bison on Dec. 30 in Fargo, N.D.
But Jasick sees the Summit League standings, and he sees hope.
With North Dakota State coming in tonight, and South Dakota State visiting the Gates Center on Saturday, the opportunity exists to move up in the Summit League world.
“I look at our schedule, and we can literally win out,” he said. “But on the other hand, we can literally lose out. We’re all bunched together. Every game is going to be the same. Whoever can get stops and take care of the ball is going to win.
“We’re a game out of last place and two games out of third; it’s that close. And that’s how this next month and a half is going to be.”
IPFW will play their next two games inside the more intimate settings of the Gates Center, rather than Memorial Coliseum.
It’s where the Mastodons practice, but rarely play.
“It’s great,” Jasick said. “The only issue I’ve got to be concerned about is that our team doesn’t get too (excited). The crowd is significantly different, and we’ll have a much larger significant student crowd, and the atmosphere will be different.”
