Head Coach George Ivory and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions basketball team are in Washington, D.C., for a match-up against the George Washington Colonials.
The Golden Lions are coming off of an 83-47 victory over Ecceslia College. UAPB played host to Ecceslia at H.O. Clemmons Arena Monday night, and according to Ivory, they showed improvements in some areas from game one to game two.
“One thing we’re doing is we’re rebounding a little better,” Ivory said. “We’ve been focusing on rebounding and running the floor better, and I think they showed improvements in those areas in our second outing. We’ve pushed our guys to being defensive minded, and I think we played solid on that end earlier this week. Going forward, we have to take care of the ball better.”
After defeating Ecceslia on Monday, the Golden Lions have squeezed in a few practices. They’ve worked on correcting some of their deficiencies, and Ivory wants his guys to cut back on turnovers. He believes it’s a matter of just slowing down a little.
“In our latest practices, one area that we are hitting on is being patient before making passes,” Ivory said. “If we can just slow down a little and not force things, it’ll help cut down on our number of turnovers. Also, we’re continuing to emphasize rebounding and becoming a better defensive group.”
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In their last game, the Golden Lions had three players in double figures. Travon Harper finished with 11 points while grabbing six boards, and Trent Steen finished with 10 points while grabbing seven boards. The high point-man was senior guard Ghiavonni Robinson, who finished with 19 points and six boards. Ivory knows this team will need its seniors to step up, and so far Robinson has done just that.
“Robinson is a guy that comes in a works hard day in and day out,” Ivory said. “He gives 100 percent all the time and it shows during the games. His turnovers are down and he’s shooting the ball alot better. He’s done a great job for us so far, and hopefully it’ll only get better.”
George Washington will be heavily favored, and they’ll have the advantage of playing at home in front of their fans. The Colonials will have a size advantage on the inside as well, and Ivory believes they’ll look to expose that.
“We’ve handled the trip good so far,” Ivory said. “We’ve had a chance to practice and the guys are looking forward to the opportunity. George Washington is a very solid basketball team. Their bigs a pretty good and we’ll have to execute our defensive game plan against them. They’ll look to play from the inside out, and we have to play solid defense and rebound the ball.”
The Golden Lions and the Colonials are set for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Charles E. Smith Center.