MISENHEIMER —When you’re as emotional as Pfeiffer men’s basketball coach Dave Davis, Senior Night is every bit as challenging as a road game at nationally ranked Queens.
Davis, his assistants and an SRO crowd at Merner Gym opened up the tear ducts on Saturday night and said thank
yous, goodbyes and God bless yous to seven senior stalwarts in ceremonies prior to Pfeiffer’s 97-88 CVAC win over Lees-McRae.
“Senior Night’s always tough,” said Davis. “But this one is right off the scale. It’s crazy to lose all these guys at once.”
The magnificent seven — guards Joe Holmes, Terrence Baxter and Emory Smith, swing players Shakil Brew and Eric Jackson, and post men Nem Sovic and Dwayne Bell — are all among Davis’ top eight players.
The only non-senior in Pfeiffer’s first eight is guard Jay Moody, who has swished 73 3-pointers this season and is the No. 4 scorer. The catch is that while Moody is a junior in terms of hoops eligibility, he is a senior in the classroom and will graduate in May with his teammates.
“We’ve talked to him about it and we hope Jay will return to the team next year as a graduate student,” said Davis.
“We didn’t honor Jay tonight with the others,” the coach added with a wink, “so maybe we put a little pressure on him to come back. We know he wants to come back.”
There’s been pressure all season on the much-hyped Falcons (18-7), who are battling Longwood and Belmont Abbey for second place in the rough-and-tumble
CVAC, but have no chance to catch top-dog Queens with just one regular-season game remaining.
Mostly because Pfeiffer was shocked twice by lowly St. Andrews. Pfeiffer is 3-1 against ultra-talented Longwood and Queens, but there have also been painful losses to middle-of-the-packers like Limestone and Barton.
Davis points to the change in this season’s practices as the root of his team’s travails. “Last year we could bang on one another every day and make each other better,” he said. “Now, because of injuries, we shoot around, rest up and talk about the next opponent.”
The injuries have been crushing and constant, with the most damaging being the hip pointer suffered by Pfeiffer’s little-engine-that-could — Baxter. With the 5-foot-8 dynamo slowed to a chug, the Falcons have been beatable.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster every single night,” said Davis. “We’re always out of sync, never knowing who’s going to be able to play. And if they can play, how many minutes can they play?”
Saturday’s game was same old, same old for Davis — lots of struggling and juggling. Somehow his guys ground out a precious win.
Holmes was iffy because of a concussion suffered in the previous game, while Moody hadn’t practiced for four days because his grandmother passed away. During the game, Jackson broke a finger and Bell ripped a huge hunk out his hand when he smacked the rim.
The seven seniors combined for 86 points.
Jackson, the North Stanly High kid best known for his defense, splashed two big 3s. Smith buried five 3s, including two monsters when the Falcons were reeling. Slick Sovic, the All-American who is nearing 2,000 points for his career, dunked, dipsy-doed and drop-stepped for his standard 32 in just 28 minutes.
Baxter, once the MVP of a state football championship game when he played at Thomasville High, looked like his old self with 17 points. Brew stirred up 11 muscular, double-pumping points in the lane, while Bell rang up eight boards.
Then there was Holmes, the transfer from Nebraska — yes, that Nebraska. He actually started two games for the Cornhuskers against Kansas — yes, that Kansas — but has battled foot problems since he came to Pfeiffer. When Holmes is well enough to play half the game, the Falcons are 17-1. Holmes proved his value on Senior Night with six assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes.
“Everyone was able to go tonight,” sighed Davis, “and that was a big plus. But, honestly, I didn’t think much about the seniors as basketball players. I thought about them as people. They’ve been really good people. Fun to coach, fun to be around. Part of the family.”
Especially Sovic, Baxter and Smith, who have been linked with Davis almost from the day he arrived in
Misenheimer. Five short years ago, they were red-shirt freshmen whom no one else wanted. Now, they’re red-letter all-stars.
Best of all, the seniors’ win last Saturday earned them one more game in front of their faithful fans at
Merner. Pfeiffer is assured of hosting a Feb. 28 first-round game in the CVAC Tournament.
“The saga continues,” said Davis.
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