Test to come for 5-0 Metro

Weak schedule over for men

By Kyle Ringo
The Metropolitan

Most teachers say one must do well on the quizzes if one hopes to do well on the test. The Metro menâs basketball team has passed all its quizzes but hasnât really been tested.

Actually, it hasnât even been studying the material it will be tested on.

After blowing through an early season schedule of the creampuff variety, the Roadrunners are 5-0 and preparing for their first true examination Dec. 5 in a home game with the University of Southern Colorado.

Four of the first five Metro opponents have been Division III teams, including one program in its first year of existence.

That team, Evergreen State from Washington state, gave Metro one of the two competitive games it has played. Evergreen led most of the game, which could be looked upon as a scary omen for the Roadrunners.

So, despite all the lopsided scores and the best start in six years, it is fair to say that Metro coach Mike Dunlap is not sure how his team stacks up entering the conference portion of the schedule.
Still, Dunlap is not about to apologize for success.

ãIt doesnât even enter my mind,ä Dunlap said referring to the schedule after an 83-63 trouncing Dec. 1 of North Central State College from the Chicago suburbs. ãI just prefer to take what (Metro) has given me and work with it.

ãWe are a very young team with a lot to learn. Iâm not going to sit here and complain about a 20-point win.ä

Dunlap inherited the schedule from the school and former coach Charles Bradley. Dunlap was hired as interim coach late last spring.

The only Division II team the Roadrunners have faced, Cal State Stanislaus, is one Dunlap scheduled as part of a season-opening California trip.

Metro won that game by nine, the only single-digit final margin the Roadrunners have experienced.

In fact, if the game with Stanislaus is taken out, Metroâs average margin of victory is hovering around 19.7 points per contest. And the Roadrunners have not failed to score less than 80 points in a game yet.

Lee Barlow, Metroâs starting center and one of nine additions to this seasonâs roster, has been a key contributor, averaging a double-double every game (13 points and 11 rebounds) .

Barlow shrugs off any attention paid him saying, ãItâs a team game.ä

But he said he is well aware of what awaits his team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Two teams, Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State , have been ranked in the top 15 in the country.

Tougher competition is the only change Barlow sees coming.

ãI expect us to be the same,ä Barlow said. ãHigh intensity and tough defense.ä

Senior Adrian Navarro, a veteran of last season, said although five games do not make a season, he is more satisfied with where the Roadrunners are at this point in the schedule as opposed to the same time last year.

ãWe click as a team,ä Navarro said. ãWeâve played with more poise than last year, and we respond better to our coaches.

ãWe will be able to say where we are at after (the USC) game.ä