After a season of highs and lows SJU basketball unwillingly wrapped-up its 2010-2011 season with a tough 72-61 loss to St. Thomas. Needing a win or losses from Hamline, St. Olaf and Gustavus to continue into the MIAC playoffs, the Johnnies remained somewhat optimistic following the game only to have their hopes dashed with the news that their season was over.
“Before the game there was a ton of adrenaline and energy,” senior wing Chris Schwartz said.
Riding a five-game winning streak into Saturday’s contest and coming back to their home floor to clinch the playoffs had everyone anxious.
“Going into the ball game we knew if we beat UST we’d be an automatic five seed,” Coach Jim Smith said.
With a raucous crowd turn-out at Sexton Arena, the Johnnies cruised to a 25-19 halftime lead. SJU’s first half zone defense held the Tommies’ stud point guard Tyler Nicolai to eight points. Confidence was rampant on and off the court going into the second half.
“The crowd was phenomenal, we didn’t expect that many people,” senior post Nermin Hujdurovic said.
An estimated 2,786 people (adorned in red) were on hand to try and boost SJU into the playoffs, “the kind (of crowd) you love to have at your home court,” Smith said. Unfortunately for the Johnnies, faithful Nicolai and the Tommies were too much.
“The turning point in the game was probably the beginning of the second half where they went on a run and Nicolai hit some big shots,” senior Aaron Burtzel said.
The Tommie roster is filled with gamers; each one of them has the capability to turn a game around. For SJU’s five seniors (Burtzel, Hujdurovic, Schwartz, Sam Blank and Todd Herman), the end of their collegiate careers seemed surreal.
“Sitting in the locker room with the seniors after the game was a strange feeling because you just think about everything you went through together throughout the four years,” Burtzel said.
Especially with the expectations going into this season, Saturday’s game was a dagger for the guys, an unsettling conclusion to a topsy-turvy season that left everyone speechless.
“So many hours put in and it all came down to that, it’s over,” Schwartz said.
For Smith and the Johnnies, the end was too abrupt after starting the year with conference championship and NCAA tournament aspirations.
“With the amount of seniors and talent we had, we thought we’d at least win the MIAC, hands down. We thought we were going to be going to St. Thomas for the title game,” Hujdurovic said.
Smith reflected on his time with this core group of seniors. “Overall, it’s been a great four years with them,” also noting that the close to this campaign has been one of the toughest in his tenure here at SJU.
“It’s a tough way to go because we were definitely a playoff team but just didn’t make it happen. That hurt, it really hurt, and I’m still trying to recover from it,” Smith said.
Coach Smith acknowledged the impact that his seniors had off the court as well, mentoring their younger teammates.
“That’s one of the things that the young players mention to me. They felt that the upperclassmen have just been great to them,” Smith said.
The footprint these men have left at SJU goes far beyond their athletic achievements.
To them, Coach Smith offered this advice: “Enjoy college, this is the greatest life you have,” Smith said. “Right now you think you have so much to worry about with tests and papers and everything, but this is the greatest time of your life.”
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