MIDWAY, Ky. -- The Midway University men's basketball will get their 2018-19 campaign underway this weekend when they travel to Kokomo, Indiana to compete in the IU Kokomo Classic hosted by River States Conference member, Indiana University Kokomo.
On Friday, the Eagles will take on Trinity Christian College (Ill.) at 5:30 p.m. ET. Then on Saturday, Midway wraps up play in the IU Kokomo Classic when they take on Silver Lake College (Wis.) at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live video will be available for both games this weekend.
The Eagles are entering their third year as a program and are coming off a season in 2017-18 where they went 7-20 and 3-15 in River States Conference play. Last season did see the Eagles record their first-ever victory over a ranked opponent when they defeated No. 25 IU Southeast.
Krupinski's team began practicing on September 24 and have been preparing for Friday's season opener. "Our practices have been going well thus far, I think until you start playing against other people you don't know exactly how well it's going."
Krupinski noted that this might be a more focused unit than year's past and he believes his seniors have played a key role in that transition. The Eagles will certainly be leaning on their seniors this season to provide leadership both on and off the court.
The four seniors this season include, Mychele Bullock (Chicago, Ill.), Gerry Milligan (West Palm Beach, Fla.), David Jump (Williamstown, Ky.) and Jose Bustamante (Surprise, Ariz.).
Overall, the Eagles return four starters from last year including the senior duo of Milligan running the point and Bustamante controlling the paint. Milligan appeared in 27 games last season making 26 starts, while Bustamante started all 25 games that he appeared in.
Last year, Milligan averaged 3.9 points per game to go with 3.3 assists per game, while Bustamante averaged 6.2 PPG and 4.5 rebounds per contest.
Joining Milligan and Bustamante in the starting the lineup will be sophomores, Kwon Evans (Louisville, Ky.) and Ty Sparling (Kokomo, Ind.). As a freshman, Evans averaged 10.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Sparling provided a spark late is the season with his sharp shooting from the outside. He averaged 6.0 PPG and shot 43.3 percent from behind the arc.
Even though the Eagles return four starters from last year's squad, Krupinski noted that he will be leaning on his newcomers to help fill the void left by Bryson Harris who was lost to graduation.
"We are excited about the new guys that we have this year," said Krupinski. "It's a little bit different this year because most of our newcomers are transfers who are a little bit older and anytime you bring in guys who have played somewhere before you expect them to produce right away"
Krupinski added that he believes he has four newcomers that could produce right away. Juniors, Jason Gammage (Riverside, Calif.) and DJ Lujan (Phoenix, Ariz.) as well as sophomores, Izaya Sims (East Moline, Ill.) and Luke Thorburg (St. Louis, Mo.) will likely play a key role for the Eagles this season.
Gammage is a transfer from Bacone College, Lujan is a transfer from Glendale Community College, while Sims transferred in from North Iowa Area Community College and Thorburg comes to Midway from Rend Lake College.
Krupinski noted that he is looking for his team to take that next step and compete in the conference and make a run at the conference tournament. He also added that playing in a tough conference prepares your team for the conference tournament.
"The good thing about being in a tough league is that if you make it to the conference tournament then anyone has a chance."
The 2018-19 schedule will certainly challenge Krupinski's team as they are slated to play three teams that are ranked in the top-20 in the NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll.
After making the trip to Kokomo, Indiana this weekend, the Eagles will return home for their home opener on Wednesday, October 31, when they host Indiana University-South Bend at 7 p.m. ET inside Marshall Gymnasium.
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