Mountain State Times

D&E Men’s Basketball on the Brink of History

After the historic 6-1 start and the almost-too-long Division II mandatory break, the Senators experienced the mid-season blues in the new year. A combination of lack of rhythm, injuries, the flu and the ever changing lineups saw D&E on the losing end of five out of six games in the month of January before breaking that streak with a season sweep of Wheeling.Now the Senators have their full roster back including Breland Walton, an All-MEC performer two years ago who tore his ACL last February before the conference tournament."His dominance inside and experience has added a new dimension to our team on the offensive end," said Head Coach Dan Mondragon about Walton.D&E, who has often struggled to score efficiently, is now averaging 50% from the floor over the last four games. Even more impressive, defensively they are holding opponents to an average of 38% from the field. This is a big reason for the recent four game win streak that included wins over Notre Dame College (ranked 4th in the MEC) and West Virginia State (ranked 5th in the MEC).

Now, Coach Mondragon's squad is 14-9, matching the most wins in a single season since Joe Super's 1980-81 team. With five regular season games left, D&E needs just one win to have their first winning season in 42 years.The Senators, who are currently ranked 8th in the MEC, will have the opportunity to achieve this historic milestone tomorrow (February 11) when they face off against the second ranked team in the conference, The University of Charleston on the road. 

Original source can be found here