Photo taken by Andy Harris

By Matt Cooper, Staff Writer

Looking at the Maroon Tigers in February, you would say this team is the best in the SIAC conference and NCAA tournament bound after accomplishing a 10-game winning streak and counting. However, if you saw them back when the season first started, you would be saying the exact opposite. In the first nine games, the team went 3-6, a lackluster start that had many questioning the season’s outcome.

After losing a December 11 matchup to Tuskegee University by three, the Maroon Tigers had to figure out how to get back in the winning column and stay there. On what led to the season’s turnaround, sophomore guard Andrew Stewart had this to say.

“Honestly, I think we had to get focused; at the beginning of the season, we felt like we had a lot of talent, so we were relaxed, Stewart said. We weren’t being consistent, and I felt like as the season went on, we’ve been more consistent every day.”

With seven games left in the regular season, the Maroon Tigers are not satisfied with their winning streak. 

“We want to win it all; we don’t want to lose another game; we want to win out the rest of the regular season, senior forward Xavier Brewer said. “Got to win the tournament and then go into the national tournament to win it all.”

Brewer is also the son of the late Coach Grady Brewer, a former head coach, mentor and player of the Morehouse program who surpassed 300 wins as a coach and led his team to an NCAA Division II tournament appearance in the 2017- 2018 season.

“I want to represent him every time I play, he’s in the back of my mind, Brewer said. “I just try to represent him every time I’m out there and do the best I can because he’s the one who got me here.”

This season has been one to remember; with the Omicron variant still having its way in not allowing fans in games and even the postponement of games, the team has remained resilient and has not allowed it to affect their winning status. To describe the season’s journey from the start to now, first-year Morehouse head coach Douglass Whittler said this.

It’s been long, interesting, of course we had a slow start to the season, but we’ve found our stride, Whittler said. “It’s a process, I’m learning that as a head coach, it’s all about how you manage your team, with the help of my assistant coaches, we’ve been doing a good job in just managing the guys, academically as well with the athletic part of it.”

Although the 10-game winning streak has been notable, the 180 the team has pulled off has been more impressive.

“We want to take it game by game, sophomore guard Elijah Stewart said. “We won 10 games in a row, so our motto is just game by game.”

The Maroon Tigers will be facing their cross-town rival Clark Atlanta University in their next two games. Anyone who knows about rivalries knows that it can go either way, no matter the teams’ record.