Royal men shooting for high goals coming off 20-win season

Article by Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published Oct. 15, 2015.

The 2015-16 Lake Region State College men's basketball team doesn't expect to slow down after a 23-8 season. With assistant coach Jared Marshall taking the head coaching reigns and with four returning sophomores, the Royals look to take that next step as a program.

Ask the head coach or any of the players what expectations are, the answers are like clockwork. Mon-Dak Conference championship. Region XIII championship. National tournament appearance.

The path to the national tournament this season gets a little more attainable, with LRSC's region getting an automatic bid.

"I think that's a realistic goal," Marshall said. "It's always a goal for the men and the women. You can tell with the banners we have hanging."

Marshall is expecting big things from his team, most notably his four sophomores in AJ Nywesh, Ryan Clark, Tom Kubank and Dawson Peterson. 

Nywesh, Clark and Kubank averaged more than 20 minutes a game last year with Nywesh leading the Royals with 13.4 points per game and Clark adding 11.3.

"Having four sophomores is always going to be an advantage," Marshall said. "Most of them will get a chance to start. Having that experience, guys that won 23 games last year coming back that know the conference and the teams, that's always going to be a big help." 

LRSC will also get a boost at the point guard position from Timmance McKinney, listed as a freshman but has one year of eligibility for the Royals after transferring to Lake Region last Christmas from a Texas junior college.

"It's been different, but very fun," McKinney said. "I'm meeting a bunch of different people. I'm playing with 3-4 guys from Australia, so I get to play with different kinds of guys. It's been fun and I think we have a great team this year and we'll be fun to watch."

Marshall says his team will be up-tempo and always in attack mode. With several different options on the offensive end, the Royals will share the ball with a drive-and-kick mentality.

"A fun, real team," Clark said. "We're going to share the ball and put up a lot of points. I just think we'll be high-scoring, get some dunks and be a lot of fun to watch."

While Marshall expects scoring from Nywesh, Clark and Peterson to control the glass and Kubank to bring energy and play above the rim, he's also looking at the group of freshmen to step up.

"Ben Rennie comes over from Australia and is used to playing at a high level against top competition over there," Marshall said. "Noah Bosh, a Minot kid, comes from a state championship program his senior year.  He's just a solid all around kid. Alex Weston from Cando, he didn't play at all last year, hurting his knee. He shook off the rust and he's really starting to shoot the ball well. He's going to come around and play a lot of minutes."

The expected balanced scoring attack is key for Marshall's system. Being a big spacing team, contributions will be needed from all around as LRSC wants to control the pace and the game. Marshall also expects his team to lock down and play man-on-man defense for most of the game. 

Fitting all the pieces into the puzzle is now the duty of Marshall. With a new face to the program and a new set of freshmen on the roster, expectations have not changed at all.

"Win the conference and make the national tournament," Kubank said. "This year is a big year for us because we have the national tournament bid, so anything less would be disappointing."