By Burtland Dixon

Sports Editor

Public service announcement to the kind folks here at CSUSM, the men’s basketball team is no joke.

If you or a friend were not already a fan, now would be the time to ride this wave. During the 2013-14 season, the Cougars accumulated a total of only two losses out of 34 games. During that season, they went on a 24 game winning streak. Some teams do not even achieve 24 wins after two seasons combined! You would think that would be a tough act to follow, but this season it appears as if the Cougars are up to their same tricks.

Currently on a nine game winning streak, The Cougars are clearly bent on progressing further than they went last year. With the NAIA game of the week against Concordia on Feb. 7 in the books, which extended the Cougars home game winning streak to 25 wins, the sky is limit for the Cougars. Having players like Blake Nash and Wade Collie averaging 17.4 and 10.2 points a game respectively, the Cougars are a force to be reckoned with. These impeccable accomplishments may seem to be the epitome of achievements, but the future is even brighter than the present is.

Big changes are on the way. CSUSM currently competes in the NAIA which is technically speaking, a step down from the widely known NCAA (National College Athletic Association). In our next season however, we too shall be competing in the NCAA. That automatically means two things. First, it gives us the potentially to recruit players of a higher caliber, as if we do not already have enough fire power. Second, we will finally have our own gym which will make it that much more of burden for opponents to try and withstand the debacle we place upon them when they travel to play us.

It is almost safe to say that at this point, one wouldn’t think twice if he or she was told that the CSUSM Cougars played the Los Angeles Lakers and came out victorious. That is not a knock on the Lakers and how abysmal they look without Kobe Bryant, but more of a well-deserved praise towards our great team. Even when you attend one of the games, the atmosphere is chaotic. Imagining what it will be like with our gymnasium should bring a smile to the faces of all the fans and players out there. Our Cougars are nothing to mess with now, and moving forward.