Making the jump from Division I to NAIA can’t be an easy one. A matter of pride to go from the pinnacle of college sports to a lower level.
Tack in coming off the bench, it really takes a buy-in to the program.
For Matt Smith, a transfer from Murray State, he’s just grateful to be on the floor again.
“It’s always been an uphill battle all throughout my college career. I just kept faith and I’m just thankful that coach Ray gave me a chance and opportunity to come in and play basketball because this is what I love to do,” Smith said.
Injuries derailed his career as a Racer, playing in just four games in two years. But Smith is now healthy, playing in his 13th game of the season on Thursday, a 70-62 victory over Campbellsville and one of his most productive ones yet.
Eight points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in 11 minutes of action. The point and rebound total tying season-highs.
“The main thing for me was just coming in every day and getting one percent better and having my teammates bring me along. Coming in as a new guy, a different program and everything was different from my last stop. So just coming in and getting better every day. And then just putting it all together,” Smith said.
Then you have Kyle Ross, a Wisconsin-Milwaukee transfer who just played in his fifth game of the season on Thursday and first one at the CCC. The result: a team-high 17 points, five rebounds and knocking down 4-of-5 from three.
“All the credit really goes to Coach Ray giving me an opportunity to go out there and just do what I do. It just felt good today for me. All the shots I was putting up. I thought they they felt good, they look good, and my confidence just goes up,” Ross said.
The point total was a season-high for Ross, who has been productive from the jump with an 11 point per game average and pulling down six rebounds per game.
“I just look for that to carry over into these next games. Need to learn some of the plays a little bit more, I messed up one of them and Coach Ray wasn’t too happy about it. Just trying to learn and get better every day,” Ross said.
Why is this important?
Because Thursday’s game was often referred to as a “struggle” by Saints coach Justin Ray, who was honored before the game for picking up his 100th win in his fifth season with the program in a win over Saint Francis (Illinois) last week.
Reid Jolly had an off night, 5-of-13 from the field and 12 points, below his season average of 18.3. Last week’s Mid-South Player of the Week Casey George had to leave Thursday’s game due to a bloody lip in the second half and didn’t return. The Saints hit just 9-of-20 free throw attempts.
A “struggle” indeed.
“It was a struggle. Conference games get that way. I think you need to keep the big picture in mind that we won the game. We can learn some lessons from this thing and it’s always good to learn those lessons with a win instead of a loss,” Ray said.
But that’s where Ross and Smith enter. The two combining for 25 of the 27 Saints bench points and outscoring the Tigers bench 27-13. In a league where there’s no gimmies, on night’s where the normal productive guys are having an off night, those two and others down the stretch will be vital to get the Saints where they want to be, currently sitting at 13-2 and 8-2 in conference play, two games behind Freed-Hardeman and in a tie with Georgetown for second.
Ray feels the two are settling in nicely and will be key pieces down the stretch.
“I was really happy with as much of a struggle as it was for the first five and then Casey goes out with a with a lip to watch those guys come off the bench and have some success. That’s by far and away the best our bench has looked this year,” Ray said. “That’s what we’ve been working towards getting a little deeper and getting those guys more comfortable. And I think they’re getting there. We got a lot of new guys and a lot of new faces and they’re starting to think less and just play more.”
The Saints return to action on Saturday at Lindsey Wilson as they continue a stretch of 10 of 13 games on the road.
