Emporia State men’s basketball team lined up against The University of Central Missouri on Thursday after being postponed by weather conditions. Looking to improve upon their loss earlier in the season against UCM, the Hornets kept themselves in the game for the first half, but their efforts were marginalized early in the second half as they lost 68-51.
“Central came out (and) got physical with us,” said Head Coach David Moe. “We didn’t respond as has happened to us before… We’ve got to learn from it at some point.”
Starting the game disoriented, the Hornets put themselves in an early bind by making two fouls in the first minute and then found themselves down 5-0. ESU regained their composure and stormed back with an 11-0 run to tie the game and eventually took the lead. The half ended with UCM holding a tenuous lead over the Hornets, 27-25.
“I can’t put a finger on it. We play better when we make shots early… It makes the game easier for us, and today we didn’t make shots early,” said senior forward Michael Tyler. “We had open shots. We just couldn’t make them.”
The Hornets struggled to make anything happen down low due to the physical nature of Central Missouri. In the second half, ESU was only able to register four points in the paint.
“They are a physical team, and I thought (in the) second half we struggled,” said senior guard Matt Boswell. “We couldn’t knock down shots. When we can’t go inside, it really hurts us (offensively).”
The Hornets quickly fell further behind after a 9-3 run by UCM to start the second half. Tyler broke the Hornets dry spell by making their first field goal of the half almost nine minutes in.
“I think we struggle against bigger physical teams,” Boswell said. “I think if we get mentally and physically tougher we have a chance to compete with anyone.”
The Hornets only made six more field goals – two of them coming from beyond the arc – the rest of the game. Shooting 31.6 percent for the game and 26.9 percent for the second half, the Hornets failed to rise up to UCM’s physical challenges.
“We have to respond. You can’t just beat the soft teams. You’ve got to beat the teams that challenge you physically,” Moe said. “You have to be able to be tough to still make plays when the other team is physical.”
The Hornets now stand at 11-10 on the season and 8-7 in the MIAA. Preparing to go on a three game road stretch, the Hornets are looking for more conference wins.
“Every game is a must win now. We’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Tyler said. “We didn’t get this one. We’ve got to move on and get the next one.”
Chris Dvorak
ONLINE TOOL ASSESSES FOUR DIMENSIONS OF STRENGTH
US Fed News Service, Including US State News January 29, 2010 FORT JACKSON, S.C., Jan. 28 — The U.S. Army issued the following news release:
For years, the Army has used a standardized test to evaluate Soldiers’ physical fitness. The newly designed Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program goes beyond that by implementing a method to evaluate the force’s fitness in the areas of emotional, social, spiritual and family strength. this web site global assessment tool
The Global Assessment Tool is a confidential online questionnaire that provides Soldiers with a baseline in those four dimensions of strength and allows them to track their growth in these areas over time.
“The Global Assessment Tool is really … like the PT test for mental health. It looks at your social, emotional, family and spiritual strength,” said Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, during a visit to Fort Jackson in July. “The reason that’s important is … not everybody needs the same education and training at the same time in their life. So this will help people do two things. It will give people an understanding of where they are and where they need to improve. It will then direct them to either online or local training, depending upon where they live, that would help them to improve in those areas specifically. So the training you will get if you’re in the low end will be different than the training you will get if you’re in the high end.” Soldiers will be required to take their first GAT by May and then again every two years or 120 days following a deployment. The Army’s plans also call for new Soldiers to take their first GAT during Basic Combat Training.
Fort Jackson is in the process of renovating a building to serve as a GAT facility for basic training Soldiers.
“The requirement – in terms of equipment – is to establish a minimum of 120 computer stations,” said Duane Myers, Fort Jackson communication officer. “Those computer stations will have a kiosk software loaded on them, (and) the Soldier will come in, stick in his common access card and log on – and the only item that will pop up is the GAT survey via the Web site.” The GAT facility will allow 120 Soldiers, or two platoons, to take the assessment at the same time. At this point, it has not been decided during what phase of basic training Soldiers will take the GAT, Fort Jackson officials said. globalassessmenttool.net global assessment tool
Taking the GAT will take approximately 20 minutes. The survey consists of about 100 multiple choice questions. At the end of the test, a bar chart indicates a Soldier’s strength level in each of the four dimensions.
“It was a surprise,” said one Fort Jackson Soldier, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“I thought I was strong spiritually, but my spirituality ranked lower than I expected.” After finishing the survey, Soldiers can take individualized education modules to strengthen their resiliency in each area. Referral to local services that can help with enhancing certain skill sets are also available.
The individual results of the GAT are confidential. However, leaders will receive a composite result on how their unit is scoring in each strength dimension, which allows them to implement training programs in those areas.
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