Bears bring maturity to court with four returning starters

by Patrick Nolan

SBJ Contributing Writer

The 1998-99 Bears Basketball season will hold a title for the Bears or that's what Coach Steve Alford hopes.

"We hope to turn the corner this year and get a title under our belt," Alford said.

He enters his fourth season as head coach of the Bears with a mature squad. The team has five seniors, headed by Danny Moore, Alford said.

The Bears have four starters returning, seniors Moore (15.7 points per game, 6 rebounds per game last season) and Ken Stringer (7.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), and juniors Kevin Ault (14.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2 assists per game) and William Fontleroy (7.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.2 apg). Ault and Moore were All-Missouri Valley Conference selections in 1998.

Ault, a 6-foot-2 junior, came to Southwest Missouri State University from Warsaw, Ind., two years ago as one of the most heralded recruits in the history of the SMS program. He is expected to make a strong contribution this year.

Moore, a 6-foot-11 senior, came to SMS from Miami (Ohio) University where he played during his freshman year.

Also returning are seniors Ryan Bettenhausen (6.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.5 apg), Paul Murans (1.3 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 3.9 apg) and Butch Tshomba (2.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg).

Tshomba, a 6-foot-6 native of Ganshoren, Belgium, came to SMSU from Mineral Area (Missouri) Junior College, where he spent his first two seasons. Last year he averaged 2.6 points per game, 1.3 rebounds per game and had 28 assists.

Alford said Tshomba should challenge for a lot of minutes this year.

"We're old," he said. "We're hoping that makes a difference. At this time of year, every coach is talking about winning them all."

The first game of the regular season is Nov. 14, against Butler. It's one of two key games that Alford mentioned. The other key match is at the turn of the year, Jan. 2, against St. Louis University.

The team has three areas in which it needs to improve this year, according to Alford. They are "team speed and quickness, our defense and the intensity of the ballclub."

Recruiting has helped a great deal with plans for this year, Alford said.

"This year was our best recruiting class," he said.

The six new faces on the team include three transfer students and three freshmen.

Two of the transfers came from SMSU-West Plains. Allen Phillips and Eric Judd were two of the top scorers on last year's West Plains team. Ron Bruton came from Hutchinson Community College.

Alford said Judd will be a great addition to the SMS program. Judd came from the West Plains campus where he led in three-point scores with 105. He hit 42 percent from the three-point range and sank 83 percent of his free throws.

"Two of our weak areas last season were toughness and the ability to shoot the basketball," Alford said. "Eric Judd helps us fill both those needs. He's a great shooter and a fierce competitor, and should come in right away and make a difference in the intensity of the team."

The new freshmen include Brian George, of Springfield, Scott Brakebill, of Bolivar, and Brandon Miller, of New Castle, Ind.

This SMS team is the first team to play all of the state's Division I schools, Alford said.

"We have demonstrated that we can play in this league," he said, "but until you break through and dominate enough to win the regular season championship, you haven't achieved what has to be your primary goal."

Last year the Bears finished strong, winning eight of the last 11 games. Ault became one of the top three-point shooters in the league. In the Missouri Valley Conference pre-season poll, SMS, which competed in the 1997 National Invitational Tournament, placed second, with 272 points and nine first-place votes. [[In-content Ad]]