Solitary Man

[Wayne23]

2/2: 65-47 over Toledo here. We're 4-4 in conf., winning all 4 home games, losing all 4 road games. We led all the way in this one. 15, 5, 4 for Hill, 14, 2, 3 for Kest, 10, 13 for Vank.

We're giving Cory Kest the starting job at SF. He's looking better than Ward there.

Cory Kest: I'm finally getting my chance. I'm going to do what I can to make the best of it.

[Wayne23]

2/6: 60-50 at Ohio. Finally a conf. road win. Admittedly they're 3-17, but still. 37-18 at the half. 20, 2, 4 for PG Kev Wilk, 14, 4, 4 for Kest. 7 TOs.

I told Cory Kest that he really came through for us in his first start.

Prepping like mad for my meeting with the "Born Free" lawyer. It happens two weeks from today.

[Wayne23]

2/9: 81-62 over Miami (OH) here. It wasn't ever close in the 2nd half. Balanced scoring, 8 guys had between 13 and 7 points. 11 TOs, +9 RBs.

Bench Coach Tim Sales: It feels like we're finally gelling as a team. We really played well together tonight and everyone who played contributed. Great D, lots of movement on O, good transition play.

[Wayne23]

2/13: 61-62 at East Tennessee ST. Damn it! We fell behind early, by as many as 16. We caught them and even led a couple of times late, and we had the last possession, but we couldn't find the open man and Wilk just threw up a wild three at the end. It missed everything. This is a team we should have beaten. 21 TOs did us in, really. 16, 2, 4 for Hill.

This loss will cost us. I'm really frustrated.

[Wayne23]

2/16: 71-59 at Iona. We needed this one! We were down one at the half. We changed a couple of things, were +12 in RBs in the 2nd half and hit 5 threes. Hill led us with 21. 16, 4, 4 for Kest, who hurt his back but is not expected to miss any games. 11, 12 for Spen, 11, 5 for Ward.

We're tied for 5th with 4 to play, 3 of them at home, and the road game against the last place team.

[Wayne23]

2/20: 71-57 over Valparaiso here. We were down 12 early, 9 at the half. I kicked some butt at halftime and made a couple of changes. We responded well and caught them, passed them, and stretched out the lead. 18, 5 for Hill, 18, 1, 6 for Wilk, 13, 5 for Kest, so we won it outside. 9 TOs.

We're now tied for 4th with 3 to play.

I met with the lawyer from Born Free. We spent a couple of hours together again. She will file a motion for a re-sentencing. She really put together a good case for that and I think I have reason to be hopeful.

I've been in here 8 1/2 years now. She thinks a fair judge might sentence me to time served, but a harsh judge could make it 20 years, which means I'd be in here for several more years before i could be paroled. But the bottom line is that I have a real shot at getting out at some point. I didn't have that before.

[Wayne23]

2/23: 80-63 at Montana. Huge win puts us alone in 4th, one back of two teams with 2 left, both at home! We never trailed and were up by 16 at the half. 26, 6, 3 for Hill, 19, 2, 6 for Wilk, 13, 7 for Spen, 14, 5, 3 for Vann. We got it done both inside and outside. 7 TOs.

I'm thinking a lot about the re-sentencing hearing, which is called a judicial review. My whole life will be riding on it. I'm continuing to study hard for the law degree. I've already said that I probably won't be admitted to the bar with a criminal record, but I can be a law clerk, a researcher for a law firm... There are lots of possibilities. Born Free has already said they will want to interview me once I get the degree.

[Wayne23]

2/27: 48-61 to Cleveland ST here. It was a gigantically important game and we blew it. We shot an all but unbelievable 19.7%, 2-27 on threes. We took 15 more shots and made 8 fewer. It doesn't get much worse.

We could have been ties for 2nd but instead we're tied for 4th with a real probability of not being moved up to Conf. I for next season.

[Wayne23]

3/2: 73-67 over NC-Greensboro in the regular season finale here. It was a battle most of the way. They led by 8 early in the 2nd half. 19, 13, 4 for Vank, 18 for Wilk.

We end up alone in 4th so we should move up to I. 19-8, 10-6, RPI only #88 so our only way into the NCAA tourney is winning ours. +4.6 PPG, +4.9 RBs, -2.9 TOs. SG Cris Hill leads us with 16.9 PPG. PF Gar Spen gets 8.1 RBs, and C Arlo Vank gets 7.9. PG Kev Wilk gets 4.3 assists.

[Wayne23]

3/6: We play #5 seed Valparaiso, 17-11, 9-7, in the quarter finals. We won by 14 at our place. We feel like we're the better team, but we need to play well.

Bench Coach Tim Sales: Our guards need to step up.

3/7: 81-74. We were down by 10 early, 5 at the half. We took our first lead with about 10 minutes left. Our guards really came through- 33, 2, 6 for Wilk, 29, 3, 3 for Hill; 19-42 on threes. They were the difference and then some! 11 TOs.