Coming off a magical 2014 season, which saw a team composed of eight players come together and win the Great American Conference (GAC) tournament title, the Bisons basketball team, fully reloaded with nine new players, is ready to defend that title as the regular season gets under way tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Rhodes Fieldhouse against Champion Baptist College.

Despite losing seasoned veterans Weston Jameson and Hayden Johnson, the Bisons return five players from the “Great Eight” team which went all the way to a storybook double overtime win over Henderson State in the GAC tournament title game last season. They will look to mesh that returning core with nine new players who will all have roles to play in the quest for back-to-back championships.

For head coach Jeff Morgan, the biggest challenge will be balancing last year’s magic with this year’s team.

“In some ways you have to move on (from last year),” Morgan said. “Last season is over. Every season is a brand new journey. In other ways I think for our guys who played so many minutes last year and got great experience, hopefully what they went through last year will be a great learning experience for them and will carry over into this year.”

One of those guys that played valuable minutes last season was junior guard Jacob Gibson, a 2014 Honorable Mention All-GAC selection who also led the GAC in three-pointers with 82 total. Gibson said that the team has been building chemistry during the off season and is ready to get going.

“We’re so excited that the season is finally here, and we’re definitely feeling positive going into these first few games,” Gibson said. “We’re learning more and more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses every day. If we’re going to have another successful year we need to continue to go to work so we can be playing our best basketball in February and March.”

Gibson, along with 2014 GAC Newcomer of the Year sophomore Will Francis, and 2014 GAC All-Tournament team member junior Blake McNair, will headline a strong returning backcourt for the Bisons. The frontcourt will feature junior forward Antoine Burrell and returnee junior Andraz Kavas in the middle. Newcomers junior Johnthan McGee, senior Mak Boskailo, and freshmen Jacob Roark and Reggie Anthony look to have an instant impact for the Bisons as well.

With the combination of experienced, returning players and impactful newcomers, the Bisons will be in a position to compete for a second straight conference title, though coach Morgan said he knows it will not be an easy road.

“We talk a lot about putting ourselves in a position to have a chance to win a conference championship,” Morgan said. “We talk about it every year. We’ve been a part of three conference titles in the last four years, so it’s something that some of our guys are accustomed to because they’ve been here. It’s an expectation we like to have for ourselves, but the conference is very deep so it’s going to be a real grind every night out.”

Coming off a magical 2014 season, which saw a team composed of eight players come together and win the Great American Conference (GAC) tournament title, the Bisons basketball team, fully reloaded with nine new players, is ready to defend that title as the regular season gets under way tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Rhodes Fieldhouse against Champion Baptist College.

Despite losing seasoned veterans Weston Jameson and Hayden Johnson, the Bisons return five players from the “Great Eight” team which went all the way to a storybook double overtime win over Henderson State in the GAC tournament title game last season. They will look to mesh that returning core with nine new players who will all have roles to play in the quest for back-to-back championships.

For head coach Jeff Morgan, the biggest challenge will be balancing last year’s magic with this year’s team.

“In some ways you have to move on (from last year),” Morgan said. “Last season is over. Every season is a brand new journey. In other ways I think for our guys who played so many minutes last year and got great experience, hopefully what they went through last year will be a great learning experience for them and will carry over into this year.”

One of those guys that played valuable minutes last season was junior guard Jacob Gibson, a 2014 Honorable Mention All-GAC selection who also led the GAC in three-pointers with 82 total. Gibson said that the team has been building chemistry during the off season and is ready to get going.

“We’re so excited that the season is finally here, and we’re definitely feeling positive going into these first few games,” Gibson said. “We’re learning more and more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses every day. If we’re going to have another successful year we need to continue to go to work so we can be playing our best basketball in February and March.”

Gibson, along with 2014 GAC Newcomer of the Year sophomore Will Francis, and 2014 GAC All-Tournament team member junior Blake McNair, will headline a strong returning backcourt for the Bisons. The frontcourt will feature junior forward Antoine Burrell and returnee junior Andraz Kavas in the middle. Newcomers junior Johnthan McGee, senior Mak Boskailo, and freshmen Jacob Roark and Reggie Anthony look to have an instant impact for the Bisons as well.

With the combination of experienced, returning players and impactful newcomers, the Bisons will be in a position to compete for a second straight conference title, though coach Morgan said he knows it will not be an easy road.

“We talk a lot about putting ourselves in a position to have a chance to win a conference championship,” Morgan said. “We talk about it every year. We’ve been a part of three conference titles in the last four years, so it’s something that some of our guys are accustomed to because they’ve been here. It’s an expectation we like to have for ourselves, but the conference is very deep so it’s going to be a real grind every night out.”