Senior Center Kyle Rausch has had a storybook season. Photo/Zach Swalley

Over the past several weeks multiple Park Pirates were named to All-American teams and all-conference academic awards. Both men and women’s basketball teams were recognized by collegiate organizations which included coaches and members of the media.

Senior center Kyle Rausch put a stamp on a two-year stint at Park which ended with becoming the second player in Park history to be named to an All-American roster. Rausch was named as an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American Wednesday by the NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-America Committee.

When asked if it was on his radar Rausch unaware until the announcement was made.

“Not even a little bit,” Rausch said.

Rausch credits his team for most of the awards he has received this season along with his hard work in the classroom. He is quick to recognize how the style of play for the Pirates, which according to Rausch, is more of a guard oriented offense and fits his defensive and “run-up-and-down-the-court” style of play.

Rausch started in all 29 games played for the Pirates in the 2010-2011 campaign while averaging nearly 26 minutes a game 11 points per game. He also lead his squad with 56 blocked shots and 6.1 rebounds per game. But despite the statistical achievements in his final year wearing a Park uniform, Rausch is quick to downplay the award that came because of them.

“I was shocked because I wasn’t convinced I would make all-conference let alone all-American,” Rausch said. “It’s been super neat, but very unexpected. It’s not something I’ll let go to my head either. I’m happy about it but when I’m in class I never talk about it.”

Rausch also picked up another academic award along with three of his teammates being named to the Daktronics-NAIA Division I Men’s Scholar-Athletes. Mark Halsell, Vince Langkamp and Tyler Price were also named to the team out of 59 other student-athletes from across the country. The 2010-11 season saw the second most academic awards picked up by the men’s team.

Not to be outdone on the women’s side, junior guard Halima Ramsey was one of only 127 Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be named a 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

In order to be nominated by an institutions head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must also be of junior academic status to qualify for the honor.

Ramsey, an Atlanta, Ga. native, knew this year as an education major was going to be the most intense she had ever faced, but juggled the responsibility with a quiet mastery most athletes her age do not possess on the level in which she is managing.

“This year was really hard being an education major.” Ramsey said. “We have a lot of requirements that we have to fulfill. I used a lot of my free time when we weren’t at practice doing homework.”

Ramsey missed practice in order to fulfill her scholarly obligations, but never to the detriment of her work rate on the court. But as all good teammates will do, they came to Ramsey’s aide and made sure she was up to speed.

“My team knows that I have to have a 3.5 G.P.A. in order to keep my academic scholarship,” Ramsey said. “They like to refer to me as a nerd but they know I am always doing homework and for the most part, they’ll leave me alone when I’m in my room doing my work.

“They would help me out though. If I missed practice and we learned a new play most of them would fill me in on what was going on and tell me the game plan for the next game.”

Ramsey, who has now lived in the Kansas City area with her parents for the last ten years, has developed a keen ability to manage her time. Despite having to cut practice or class in half to attend a game or observe a teacher at another school, she has managed to not only keep her academic scholarship but her place on the team.

“They schedule our classes in the evening because we are at schools during the day,” Ramsey said. “It can be challenging at times but I think you have to depend on your time management.”

Even in the NAIA, travel is sometimes a must, and venturing across state lines is a part of what student-athletes sign on for. The only difference, albeit a major one, is you travel by bus rather than by chartered plane.

Adjusting classes, doing homework by bus light and getting only a few short hours of sleep before a big test only hours after running up and down a court all night is just a part of the game.

“You just pretty much have to suck it up and do it,” Rausch said.

Both Ramsey and Rausch feel their professors give them a fair break when it comes to their extracurricular activities, but you have to play their game, too.

“Most of the time teachers are understanding,” Rausch said. “As long as you show up to class and participate they’ll be willing to help you.”

But Rausch also had a stern warning for incoming student-athletes who see the accommodations as an expectation. And who would know better than an outgoing peer who accomplished just about anything anyone would expect out of a young person.

“If you are a slacker and don’t participate and then expect them to help you out,” Rausch said. “Well, that’s a whole different story.”

“There were times when we would have a game Thursday night and Illinois and not get back until three in the morning and had a test the next day.”

Rausch speaks of his academic peers with all the gravitas of someone who recognizes people from all walks of life populate Parks campus, and that the spotlight is on him, only because of what he does on the court.

“It’s really cool we get to have this spotlight on us and articles written about us because we are athletes,” Rausch said. “But I also know a lot of people who have really good G.P.A.’s but also have a family and full-time jobs they have to deal with.”

In so many words, Rausch feels lucky because the attention will help him out in the future, but what he is doing is not that unlike those who are not running wind sprints in Breckon Sports Center.

“I think I’m lucky to get it [recognition] because it will only help me later on,” Rausch said. “What I am doing is not necessarily more difficult than what other people are dealing with here.”

Both Ramsey and Rausch also seem to have a good grasp on what the future holds beyond basketball, although Rausch says he would like to be involved with the team as much as he can when he attends his final semester at Park in the fall, while Ramsey plans to eventually coach the game she plays.

“I think I’m going to have as much involvement or as much as they are legally allowed,” Rausch said. “I would come and practice every day if they would let me. I see these guys as my extended family now. I definitely want the best for them.”

With Ramsey only being a junior this season, she is looking forward to closing out a career at Park, where she started as a freshman.

“I think we’ll do better next year since the core of the team will be coming back,” Ramsey said. I’m hoping we bring in some new players that will add on to that too.”

Kyle Clifton went 2-for-3 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Missouri Baptist. Photo/Park Athletics

Parkville, Mo. – Missouri Baptist swung into Parkville Friday afternoon and left with four wins leaving Park swept at Comfort Field for the first time this season. The weekend saw the Pirates drop to 7-5 in the American Midwest Conference and 15-6 overall. The Spartans (24-8) solidified their spot atop the conference at 13-1 with the sweep.

Friday saw the Pirates lose 11-3, 10-3 with Saturday not being any closer at 4-1 and 15-9 against the Spartans.

Saturday afternoon Spartans ace Drew Firebraugh (7-0) tossed a complete game in the opener and struck out nine batters to keep his perfect season alive, while Park’s Gabe Perez (3-2) matched the complete game he was unable to keep the Spartans from crossing home plate, giving up three earned runs and eight hits while striking out five and walking only two Missouri Baptist batters.

Park was able to draw the Spartans to within one run in the bottom of the third when Wes Moody smacked in Park’s only RBI in the game, driving in Cody Cobb and cutting the deficit in half which Missouri Baptist created in the first inning.

The Spartans would create enough space on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning to secure the win with a Chris Coleman RBI and later scored on a double-play ground ball. Park’s chances to capture any momentum were wrapped up when Firebaugh forced Moody to fly out with a man on base to end the game and wrap up the series victory.

What the first game lacked in runs, the second game made up for nearly five times over. Park took a 6-3 lead into the top of the fourth inning off a five run third. The scoring barrage began in the first inning with a solo shot from Moody to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. Each team hit three home runs with Mike Elliot and Ryan Rush joining in on the long ball party for Park.

Moody and Rush each had singles to get the inning going with one out, and Elliott doubled to the left field wall for Park’s first two runs, as Rush and pinch-runner Trevor Hodgins scored to tie the game at 3-3. Ricky Alfonso gave Park the lead with a shallow double into center, bringing home Elliott, and Clifton busted the inning open with his first home run of the year, putting Park on top 6-3.

Despite the best offensive effort against the Spartans during the weekend, the Pirates pitching staff was unable to withstand the next three innings where Missouri Baptist would score four runs in each inning.

The Pirates caught up in the bottom of the fourth off the back of Phillip Garrison’s RBI grounder which brought in Parker Jones. In the fifth inning after MBU’s second four run frame Park made it a two run game at 11-9 when Elliot belted his fourth home run on the season.

Park’s offense sputtered the rest of the afternoon while Missouri Baptist scored another four runs to complete the four game sweep and leaving Comfort Field with a commanding lead in the conference.

Park will take the field Monday against Avila University for a one-off matchup and travel to Lebanon, Ill. to continue their AMC schedule against the McKendree Bearcats for a four game series at Hypes Field. The series gets underway Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. and will conclude Saturday afternoon.

Nearly one-third through their 2011 campaign, the Pirates are 13-2 overall and have dropped only one game in St. Louis to Harris-Stowe State in American Midwest Conference action where they are tied for first with a record of 7-1.

This weekend, Park traveled to Walnut Ridge, Ark. and completed a four game sweep of conference foe Williams Baptist College. The final game in the series was a 7-6 extra-innings win which followed at 9-3 game- three victory earlier in the afternoon. Junior Cody Cobb and senior Ryan Rush had five hits each while late game heroics belonged to sophomore Kyle Clifton, who secured the sweep with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly that scored fellow sophomore Parker Jones.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 4-14 and 0-8 in the AMC and is currently looking up at the rest of the conference seven games behind league leaders Park and Missouri Baptist.

The Pirates began the final game of the series with a bang, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Jimmy Smelcer hit his first of four hits on the afternoon, smacking a double which scored senior Ricky Alfonso, before scoring on a Cobb single. Cobb would later score on a Williams Baptist single.

The Pirates found their way to a commanding 5-1 lead and was seeming set to cruise to the series sweep, but the Eagles battled back scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth and one run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to secure extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning, Jones started the Pirates on their way to victory with a one out triple to right center, which was promptly followed up by Clifton’s sac fly which put the Pirates on top for good 7-6. Junior Billy Pullia picked up his first win in a Pirate uniform giving up only two hits and no earned runs. The Chicago, Ill. native has made four appearances and one start for Park this season racking up ten strike outs on 7 and two-thirds innings pitched.

Freshman right-hander Derek Gordon started the Pirates off in the finale Saturday afternoon going five innings, giving up three earned runs and six hits while striking out three Eagles. The uncharacteristic outing was first time Gordon had been roughed up coming into the afternoon with an ERA of 1.59 in four appearances and 17 innings pitched.

Sophomore and Tucson, Ariz. Native Josh Mall came on in the sixth inning to relieve Gordon. Mall gave up the tying run in the bottom of the seventh to push the game into extra-innings. Mall also came into the afternoon in a good position statistically boasting a 1.80 ERA in four relief appearances.

The Pirates are back in action Tuesday for a seven game home stand at Comfort Field. Park will start off with a double-header against Peru State and will match up for one game against Lindenwood the following day. Benedictine-Springfield will make their way up to Parkville for a four game series which will start on Saturday with a double-header and will wrap up the following afternoon at 12 p.m.

Goldeng Deng added another nine points along with seven from Eduardo Quintero, however all efforts from Park were exceeded by the barrage of scoring from the Cougars. David Nyarsuk scored 14 and added ten rebounds to pick up a double-double. The individual double-digit scoring efforts from Tay Spann with 14, Doug Wiggins adding 12 and 11 from Winston Robinson contributed to Mountain States eye-popping 51.6 percent shooting from the field. Cam Miller came off the bench to score 17 leading all Cougars on the score sheet.

Park kept pace with the Cougars in the first half going into the locker room down eight at the break 40-32. Reco Anderson started the second half off with a bucket to help reel the Cougars in closer and cut the lead to six 40-34, but the Pirates were unable to stop the irresistible force that was Mountain State, and after 17-straight points from the Cougars, Park found themselves down 57-34. Quintero was able to stop the run with a jumper that brought the Pirates back to 57-36 with 14:40 left in the game. But at this point the damage had already been done.

Park Head Coach Jason Kline was impressed with parts of the defensive effort, but came away frustrated with failed points in transition.

“We forced them into 20 turnovers and had 15 steals,” Kline wrote in an email. “But when we didn’t convert their mistakes into our own transition baskets or points in the half court, it magnified their scoring runs.”

When asked if the pace and grind of the weeks leading up to the national tournament had negative consequences this week, Kline was quick to write his team was playing at a high level to pick up two hard fought road victories to earn their place at the table.

“I thought the last couple of weeks we were playing pretty good basketball,” Kline wrote in an email. “The guys worked hard all year and those were two huge wins on the road at Columbia and McKendree to earn the conference bid to nationals. I am very proud of the high level of success they achieved on the court and in the classroom.”

Kline did not want the game and the outcome of the score line to be a negative stamp on what his team accomplished during the season, which brought home conference hardware to Breckon Sports Center.

“We played through many ups and downs this year,” Kline wrote in an email. “It was a huge accomplishment for our guys to win the AMC Tournament Championship. We were ready and excited to play in the [NAIA] national tournament for the second consecutive year. We played hard and battled, but Mountain State was the more efficient team on Wednesday.”

Park finished the year 21-9 overall one week after earning the American Midwest Conference Tournament Championship with a win on the road over McKendree University. The Cougars improved their record to 30-3 overall on the year and earned a slot against Lindenwood University in the second round Friday at 4:30 p.m.

In February or March in the Midwest however, the weather on the outside of these corporate looking and feeling bubbles can be as unpredictable as anything a stock market or profit sharing report could cook up.

Rather than finding one of these boys of summer in their natural environment, sometimes it is necessary to steal a room filled with a large, wooden table surrounded by chairs and audio video equipment to get a minute or two with one of them. At least this one has sports awards to cover the four walls like wallpaper and looks out over an area where basketball is practiced and played.

At Park, students come and go. They enroll and graduate. The same goes for athletes. They’ll get drafted now and again or play overseas. The future of what lies beyond Parkville may be a giant question mark looming, however what remains the same is each new faces emerge from all of the teams within the athletic program.

Wes Moody strolls into a cramped conference room with a quiet confidence of someone who knows what he brings to the table and where he might be going. His shaved head is hidden under a wide-billed Park baseball hat, which is ready for warmer days under a catchers helmet and mask. You may not think it now, but in Missouri during the month of May it can actually get warm.

Talking about the weather can be one of the lowest common denominators in terms of conversation, but Moody is comfortable with talking about something he is accustomed to around these parts.

“I’m used to that from my other school,” Moody said easily. “It was about 40 minutes from Kansas so we always got rain and wind so games would get cancelled.”

What about through June and getting a late start to avoid snow?

“It might not be such a bad idea here,” Moody laughed. “The one nice weekend in February was a practice weekend.”

Moody hails from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma which, while having similar meteorological properties to Western Missouri, breeds baseball players like standing water breeds mosquitoes in the dead of summer.

Playing under Shannon Dobson at Broken Arrow High School, who is from the Tulsa area and has coached at Oral Roberts University and Seminole Junior college after his playing days at Seminole and later the University of Oklahoma, focuses on not only graduating his players but prepares them for athletics after high school.

“I’ve talked to coach [Dobson] to find out where tryouts are at,” Moody said. “He’s a great contact to have. His goal was get people out of there [Broken Arrow High School] either recruited or drafted.”

Getting drafted in any sport or making it to colligate athletics is the dream of a lot of kids. But when you come from Broken Arrow and the laundry list of players who have moved on to college playing ball or the show itself, you set your goals high.

Andy Wilkins, for example, was drafted directly out of Broken Arrow in round 25 of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers. Wilkins is in his junior year at the University of Arkansas and someone Moody keeps in contact with.

“It is great to know people,” Moody said. “Andy Wilkins went to my high school and is a year older than me. He was drafted and I talk to him every once in awhile. We’ll talk about what we’re doing and dealing with.”

But it’s a Moody’s position where you’ll find some other success stories. Current Oklahoma Baptist University Assistant Coach Chris Klimas caught for three pitchers who are now under professional contracts while at OBU. In high school, he caught for Brad Penny (now playing for the Detroit Tigers) and enjoyed some success of his own batting .306 his senior year and set an OBU record with no errors in 370 chances.

Matt Klimas was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft and just came off winning the California League Championship in 2010 with the San Jose Giants.

Jackson Williams was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (43 overall) of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft and played two seasons at the University of Oklahoma where he was an All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention.

These are players just at Moody’s position, where he enjoyed the same type of success the aforementioned players did at Broken Arrow as well. Obviously, there are more kids with dreams of the majors. How can you not coming from an environment that breeds this much talent?

With that much talent competition just play high school ball is anything if not intense. Not to mention he graduated Broken Arrow with over 1,100 young men and women.

“At that school I can honestly say I went there every day seeing a new face because the campus is so huge and spread out,” Moody recalled. “Every year for baseball there were probably something like 80 to 100 kids that would try out for baseball and we’d fill the roster to about 60 kids for freshman through varsity.”

“We were all nervous,” Moody went on to say. “I played on a championship team when I was 14 and everyone that played on it went to Broken Arrow and made the team but we were all nervous to make it. Even the most confident kid out there who knew he was going to make it still got nervous.”

Moody’s class was no exception when it came to moving on in organized baseball. All of them moved on to some form of playing sports in college. From staying in Oklahoma where competition is seen at some the highest levels, all the way to a world famous military academy.

“Out of the ten seniors I graduated and played with I think most of them went to play baseball and one went to Emporia State for football and the other went to West Point,” Moody said. “Everyone else plays baseball. Two other outfielders and I ended up at Northern Oklahoma College. I think everyone went to junior colleges and now are all at four year schools.”

Moody’s road to Park came through Northern Oklahoma College where he rediscovered his position and what can be gained behind the plate.

“I was a catcher all through my little league years and then I started playing outfield my sophomore year of high school,” Moody said. “I didn’t start catching again until my first year in junior college because a couple of my buddies said they didn’t have a catcher, so I thought ‘I’ll give it a try’ because I wasn’t really happy with where I was at. I caught a couple years at Northern Oklahoma and then I came here.”

Now at Park, the goal is quite simple if not multi-dimensional.

“Just being a catcher you’re the leader on the field so I want to help develop them into being better,” Moody said. “They’ve already improved quite a bit. First semester is really their freshman year then by now they should be used to everything. It’s hard for them to get used to it. I just want to help us win.”

He’s keeping his options open as well. Coming from a place like Broken Arrow High and having as much talent and ability as Moody does, it’s still good idea to have a plan B. But the focus quickly shifts back to baseball, which it should. When you’ve got big dreams, the only way to get there is to manage your time to get there.

“School-wise obviously I want to graduate and get my degree in psychology,” Moody said. “Baseball-wise I want to be the guy who gets drafted. Obviously it’s a high goal but I’m worked hard to hopefully get that done. I’ve been playing my whole life for that.

“I just try to do the things most people don’t do,” Moody continued. “I’ll spend extra time in the weight room for baseball and for school I’ll try to improve my time management so I can get my grades up since we can’t play if we have bad grades. I try to stay as focused as I can because it is so easy to get off track especially being 21.”

Moving from Oklahoma to Missouri hasn’t been the cultural leap most might think it to be. With this, Moody has found himself quite happy in Parkville.

“I don’t feel too out of place,” Moody says with an easy smile. “I was afraid I was going to be some little hick boy from Oklahoma but it really is about the same. It all looks normal and I feel like I’m back home being up here.”

He also talks about competition. When thoughts of going pro are on a players mind, keeping your skills sharp are a must. And doing it against the best is needed in order to move on.

“I played in a pretty tough conference with two top teams in the nation so I’m used to facing high quality pitchers and here so far it seems about the same,” Moody said. “I’ve heard teams in this conference had some pretty good ones. I looked at the program and Park had winning seasons. Last year they had lost some close one run games so it seemed like a good place to be that was on the buildup.”

The future is still to be written for Moody here at Park. But he’s also keeping an eye on his future beyond playing for the Pirates, but fully understanding everything here is an audition for the next level and working hard all the time is the fuel that drives the vehicle there.

“I’m not taking practice for granted because it is easy to sit back and just go through the motions,” Moody said. “There are quite a few tryouts around the Midwest. This past summer I went to one and made the top five with the Arkansas Naturals. Our coach would usually get us to places where there would be college scouts and a lot of guys would get picked up from there.”

He’s learned his lessons about preparation and baseball. The hours that go into scouting other teams and how hitters hit and the motions they go through. Being a catcher means being a field general and a statistician which is something Moody picked up in his time at Broken Arrow. Where baseball is life and reaching for the top isn’t just a dream, it’s a workable reality.

“When I was younger I was kind of the big shot guy so I really didn’t have to work too hard,” Moody said. “Then when I got to high school I had to learn what a good work ethic was. I always worked hard but it was easy at the time. In high school I really picked it up because I wanted to do something with it.”

Rausch transferred from Missouri State University prior to last season, and in 2010-11 has played and started in all 18 games, adding 38 blocked shots and 24 steals to the Pirates’ defense, while also draining 46-of-56 at the free-throw line for 81.2 percent.

Beyond the facts that make Rausch an integral part of the Pirates, he also is a top performer in the classroom. When speaking with Rausch it is apparent he savors each moment at Park along with the recognition.

“I just found out about the award today which was really awesome,” Rausch said after tonight’s game.  “I am honored and I decided this time around in school I was going to make the most of it since I’m a bit older and wiser now.”

Rausch is not only cognizant of the rewards he is reaping for himself, but saying he hopes it spreads to his teammates is a priority as well.

“I think the guys on the team see me take advantage of that,” Rausch said. “Hopefully, they’ve seen that and we have other guys who have better grades than me on the team. I’m just hopefully doing my part and having a positive influence on them. I’ve never won an academic award before.”

Head coach Jason Kline said the award came through Rausch’s hard work on and off the court, which is reflected not only in the recognition from Capital One, but throughout the locker room by the team and the staff.

“Kyle’s a good player and he’s a good person,” Kline said. “He could be friends with anybody in this gym and that’s just the type of guy he is. He’s a very good player and he’s a great student too. And the third team All-American by Capital One, that’s a huge honor.”

Just as Rausch intended, whether by his actions or those already inherent in the team, the academic prosperity seems to be infectious which was recognized by Kline.

“He’s going to be an Academic All-American and we have three other Academic All-American and our GPA as a team is 3.0 this first semester,” Kline said. “We compete as hard as we can on the floor but we also remind them every day that they are a student-athlete in that order and the academics are going to play a vital role for them down the road in their life.”

Rausch has the self-awareness to recognize his time at Park has a shelf life. He states he is doing everything he can to revel in the time he has left on the clock.

“I am old enough to recognize how lucky I am and I couldn’t be happier,” Rausch said. “I just take in each moment especially now that my senior year has come which I never thought it would even happen in terms of school and basketball. Now I look up and I only have so many guaranteed games left and I’m thinking to myself that it is almost over. I’m just loving every second of it and trying to take advantage where I can.”

For someone with such defined short term goals, Rausch already has one eye on the future and what it may bring, whether it spells basketball or other ventures. Rausch seems open to any of the possibilities down the road.

“I took a couple years off of school doing the music thing and I still do it and I would like to still do it,” Rausch said. “I’m also kind of tall and kind of good at basketball I’d hopefully have a shot at playing overseas, and if so, I’d definitely take that opportunity. There is potential out there but who knows. We are in the NAIA so you don’t get the same look as the KU (University of Kansas) players and things of that nature, but I’ll take any opportunities I can get and try to make the most of it if I can.”

With all the success it would be easy to understand it going to a basketball player’s head on such a small campus, but Rausch said his teammates do a good job of keeping him grounded, at least figuratively, when it comes to recognition in and out of the classroom.

“They all gave me a congrats but they didn’t stroke my ego too much.”

Tyler Price turns up the heat on defense. Photo/Zach Swalley

Parkville, Mo. – The No. 13 Park Pirates rolled past the Missouri Baptist Spartans 91-64 in front of a raucous crowd stretching their winning streak at Breckon Sports Center to 14 in-a-row, not losing at home since last season.

Led by 16 points from Reco Anderson, Park (15-4) stretched their lead in the American Midwest Conference and are a perfect 7-0 in league play.

Park not only extended their home court winning streak, but also added to it’s 13 game winning streak overall. The Pirates were led by three other players in double figures with Kyle Rausch earning a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Both Goldeng Deng and Travis Fairley added 10 points each.

Rondu Stevens led Missouri Baptist with 16 points but was only able to shoot 5-of-17 from the field and 1-for-4 from behind the three point line. The loss dropped the Spartans to 1-7 and now remain in last place in the AMC and 7-15 overall.

Park played in their third-to-last regular season home game and will go on the road for a four game trip. But with no fear of the road, Rausch and his team are prepared for the time away from the comfy confines of their home floor.

“I think the biggest thing we have going for us is we’re all old,” Rausch said with a laugh. “We’ve all been around and done this before so I don’t think it really affects us and we haven’t considered it yet. It’s just another game. It doesn’t matter if it is home or away.”

Rausch was also quick to recognize his team is playing at a high level because of their ability to get everyone involved.

“We are really starting to get into the groove and we trust each other,” Rausch said. “It’s a great team victory. If I had a double-double that’s awesome but I think the leading scorer on our team scores around 11 points but we score 80 as a team on average, so we do it as a team which makes it a lot of fun.”

Coach Jason Kline echoed Rausch’s comments about Park’s ability to distribute across the score sheet. The Pirates, according to Kline, are identified by their selflessness when it comes to scoring by the dozens.

“That’s how we are,” Kline said. “We have a couple guys who average double figures and we’ve got about four to five guys who average seven to nine points a game. Right now we don’t have a guy that is going to give us 18 to 25 a night so we are going to have to do it by committee. The thing is our defense creates our offense and that’s what I thought happened tonight.”

Kline also commented on the frantic pace of the first half which saw the Pirates race out to a 21 point lead, only to see the Spartans reel Park back in. Once again, Kline pointed to the fact that this is the type of team they want to be.

“That’s the way we want to play,” Kline said. “We want to pressure people and get some turnovers. We had 28 points off of their turnovers. We aren’t going to win in the half-court and just walking the ball up which is why we have to get some easy transition baskets, and I thought we did that.”

When asked about what he told his players at the half to come out in the second half and play with more control, Kline focused on his teams ability to compete until the very end of the game.

“We were up 21 at the half but at a point in the first half we were up by that already and they cut that back and they got to 13 or 14 and at halftime that was an emphasis,” Kline said. “We wanted to compete for the last 20 minutes.”

Park will be back on the hardwood Saturday in Columbia, Mo. when they take on the No. 21 Columbia Cougars at the Arena of the Southwell Complex. Park will then travel to Williams Baptist College for a pair of games on February 11-12 and then will wrap up their road trip at Harris-Stowe State University. Park will return home on February 17, when they will take on William Woods University at Breckon Sports Center at 7:30 p.m.

Reco Anderson is leading the Pirate charge in the first half. Photo/Zach Swalley

Parkville Mo. – No. 13 Park University is defending several streaks at home tonight at Breckon Sports Center leading Missouri Baptist 49-28 at the half.

Early on the pace was nearly too quick for the visiting Spartans with the Pirates leading by as many as 21. However Park also found themselves in early foul trouble pushing the Spartans into the double bonus early on in the half, allowing Missouri Baptist to get back into the game.

Junior Guard Reco Anderson leads all scorers with 16 while shooting six for eight from the field. Senior guard Goldeng Deng has added ten of his own while shooting three of eight.

The Pirates shot 45 percent while hitting three of eleven from beyond the three point stripe. Four Spartans are tied with three points a piece. Park owns a slight edge on the glass 24-20.