Championship Preview
UNDERDOG MEN’S BASKETBALL DESIRES TITLE

Senior Obi Nwizugbo’s full first name, Obiajulu, means “my heart’s desire has been fulfilled” in Igbo, a dialect of Nigerian.

As the Muhlenberg men’s basketball team prepares for the Centennial Conference playoffs, the only way its desire will be fulfilled is with a championship.

Nwizugbo was one of four Mules to score in double figures on Saturday against Ursinus. He also had four of Muhlenberg’s 15 steals.

“Our goal all season has been to win the Centennial Conference championship,” said Nwizugbo. “Our focus is on Ursinus on Wednesday, and then we’re going to take it one game at a time.”

If the Mules (12-13, 10-8) are to win their first CC title since 1998, they will have to do so as underdogs. Since the tournament expanded to include a first-round game between the fourth and fifth seed, no team has won three games on the road to capture the conference crown.

Then there is Wednesday’s matchup at Ursinus. The Mules were swept in the regular season by the Bears (15-10, 11-7) – including an overtime loss, 89-83, on Saturday in the finale – and have lost nine of their last 10 in Collegeville.

But Nwizugbo thinks Saturday’s game, which determined who would have home court in the first round, will be a positive.

“The last game was very close and could have gone either way,” he said. “Having played at their place recently, we’ll feel a lot more comfortable and will be used to their crowd.”

Muhlenberg didn’t have to worry about such an adjustment last season, when it played the first-round game at home and against a Haverford team it had beaten twice in the regular season. But things couldn’t be much different for the Mules this year. They entered last season’s playoffs winners of five of seven, while this year they go in having lost five straight, dropping from sole possession of second place all the way to fifth.

“I like to look at things with the glass half-full,” said Nwizugbo. “In this case, it’s time for the basketball gods to put things in our favor. Coach always says that you put yourself in a position to be lucky, and we’ve done that all year. It’s time to get luck back on our side.”

Despite winning on Saturday, luck hasn’t been on Ursinus’ side recently either. The Bears followed a six-game winning streak by dropping four out of their last six, including an 0-3 record against the top three playoff seeds.

Cold or not, the Mules know that if they are to beat Ursinus for the first time this season and advance, they will have to focus on shutting down the CC’s most explosive offense, which leads the league by averaging 73.4 points per game. Defense, meanwhile, powers Muhlenberg, as it ranks second in the conference in field-goal percentage defense (.384) and first in rebounding margin (plus-9.2) and has been near the top of Division III in both categories all season.

“It all comes down to what we can do on defense,” commented Nwizugbo. “We have to try to stop penetration. We did a great job last game but just fell a little short.”

If the Mules come up winners this time around, a matchup with the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year, eventual national semifinalist Franklin & Marshall, awaits. But while Muhlenberg has looked ahead and dreamed of a championship all season, it isn’t willing to look past a difficult first-round game.

“Right now we’re just focused on Ursinus,” said Nwizugbo. “We need to get through that game first. The adversity of that will prepare us for whatever may come after.”