By Chris Parker, junior

The Friends University men’s basketball team sat at 0-3 and looked for answers after its first weekend of action this season. After that, the Falcons went 22-3 overall, 17-1 in conference and were on their way to a regular season championship.

Friends now is the top seed in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament and has a spot in the national tournament.

“I really think they just started believing in each other as teammates and trying to take each night to take the next step up the ladder and not worry about what’s at the top of the ladder,” said Dale Faber, head coach.

The one-game-at-a-time mentality has been a theme for the Falcons this season.

“You can’t win league every time you go out. You can just take a step in the right direction,” Faber said. “It was about going out each night and taking care of business that night.”

The lion’s share of the scoring has been taken care of by junior Chris Jackson and senior Romar Jones. Faber credits his two wings with opening up the offensive end of the floor for the Falcons.

“Having those two guys playing the wing positions for us really forces them to guard the whole court,” Faber said.

The Falcons open up the conference tournament tonight at 7 against Bethel College. Friends dismantled the Threshers in their first two meetings by 18 points and 14 points respectively.

Even though Friends won the regular season championship handily, Faber pointed out that no opponent can be taken lightly.

“The worst thing we can do in the conference tournament or national tournament is to get in the time machine and go too far into the future,” Faber said. “These guys are much better working in the present.”

After the conference tournament, the Falcons will head to Branson for the national tournament.

“It’s been a great year up to this point,” Faber said. “I don’t think they feel like they’ve completed their journey quite yet.”