Newly ranked KWC puts winning streak on line - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

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Kentucky Wesleyan College has quite a bit going for it as the team gets ready for the second of a three-game series at home before taking a break next week for finals.

The Panthers were ranked No. 25 in the latest NABC Division II national poll.

They have also won eight straight regular-season games since dropping their opener at the Disney West Tipoff Classic in California. They beat No. 6 Bellarmine along the way.

Another good thing that has emerged from this start is that the Panthers were not satisfied with it.

"We shouldn't have lost the first one," said Desmond Stephens, KWC's point guard. Ironically, Stephens was serving a one-game suspension for the opener against San Francisco State, which beat KWC 78-53. Andree' Wilson was also suspended for that contest.

"We should be undefeated," said Willie Richardson, who has been very valuable coming off the bench for the Panthers. "We had some lessons we had to learn."

The Panthers haven't had many chances to have all their talent on the floor and healthy.

"We have played very few games with our entire team," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "It was disappointing to go out to a big tournament and not have the entire team for that first game."

The Panthers have been learning on the go, but have also put themselves in good position heading into the last four games of the 2009 part of the schedule.

They have faced some NAIA teams, which were not big challenges from a physical perspective, but were a good thing from a mental angle.

"I try to emphasize with the guys about possessions and practice habits, because we've got to make sure the guys stay focused," Lee said. "It's good that the guys expect to win, but we're still working on getting better in practice, paying attention to detail."

The Panthers are still trying to cut down on mistakes with concepts offensively and defensively. They will get further chances to do that when Asbury (4-3) visits tonight at the Sportscenter. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

KWC is coming off a 94-45 blowout win over another NAIA opponent in Bethel.

"Sometimes when you schedule games, you're not sure how the teams you're playing are going to be," Lee said.

KWC has used some of these games to develop players and work on getting more precise in what it is doing on both ends of the floor.

"I always think that if we don't come out and play well, it will be a close game," Lee said.

Lee has been able to do some teaching in these early season games. A player took a bad shot recently, then tried to make up for it by going for a steal, and Lee took him out. Another player didn't hustle around a screen, and he also came out.

"If somebody doesn't want to play defense, they can come and sit down," Lee said. "We're still teaching new guys lessons, and they realize 'if I want to play, I'm going to have to bust it each possession.' "

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