The basketball program made Lyon College history this February when both the men’s and women’s teams won the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Regular-Season Championship.
This is the men’s team’s first Regular-Season Conference Championship since the 1982-83 season. The women’s team won its second-straight AMC Regular-Season Championship this year.
Senior Faris Verlasevic, of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, said winning the championship “felt surreal.” It had been his goal ever since coming to Lyon four years ago.
“It feels great to close out my career at Lyon with a ring on my hand!”
Junior Christopher Craig, of Denton, Texas, said winning the championship was a good reward for all the difficulties the team faced this year.
“It’s been an unpredictable experience,” said sophomore Winston Peace, of Blytheville, Ark. “Coming into the season, we had this as one of our goals, and it’s an incredible feeling to accomplish it.”
Head Women’s Basketball Coach Tracy Stewart-Lange, ’86, said it was gratifying to overcome so many challenges this year to achieve something the program had never done before: winning back-to-back championships.
“I feel a deeper sense of pride and investment because this is my alma mater and my program where I played,” she said. “I want each of our young women to invest and take ownership so that we stay at a high level and hopefully go even higher in the years to come.”
Senior Jade Giron, of Houston, Texas, said she was able to really focus on basketball while classes were online this year.
“It felt really good to be able to come to Lyon my junior year and be a part of two winning seasons!”
Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach Julie Church, ’04, said this year brought more obstacles than any other. Not having the women’s team together this fall to go through a pre-season, not starting practice at the normal time and not playing non-conference games were huge hurdles, she said.
Fortunately, she said, the students have been very resilient, even while playing and practicing with only portions of the team due to injuries and COVID.
“It’s very satisfying to see them reap the benefits of that work by winning a regular season championship and qualifying for a 10th straight NAIA national tournament.”
Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chad Tapp said the men’s team faced the same circumstances, not being able to have face-to-face contact with each other until December and persevering through shutdowns due to COVID and winter weather.
“There is a feeling of pride to have been able to accomplish this as a team during such a challenging year,” Tapp said. “We’re really proud of our guys.”
“The team just wanted to play the game we’re passionate about, and we banded together through it all,” Peace said.
Stewart-Lange said the women’s team focused on what they could control and talked a lot about being grateful that they had a season together.
“It was a motivating factor that no one really thought we could [win the championship] given our circumstances of not playing in the fall,” she said.
“I hope to see us winning the conference tournament and going far into the national tournament as well,” Giron said.
Despite this season’s challenges, both teams also experienced plenty of highlights.
The men’s team had its best overall winning percentage (10-4) since the 1979-80 season.
“Our staff has gotten better in regards to teaching,” Tapp said, “and it’s been great to see the improvement of our guys on and off the floor.”
Verlasevic said the highlight of the year was when the men’s team redeemed themselves against Central Baptist during the last regular season game and secured the conference title.
Stewart-Lange said highlights of the women’s season would be stepping up on the road early to beat Missouri Baptist and Columbia.
“That gave us a good opportunity to win the league if we took care of business at home,” she said. “I am so very proud of how the girls have handled so many distractions and overcome many hurdles to achieve their goals and have a successful season in a most difficult year.”
The men’s team now has its sights on winning the conference tournament and making it to the national tournament.
“We’re not done yet,” said junior Cole Anderson of Magnet Cove, Ark., “but it’s still very cool to do something that has never been done before.”
“I expect our team to go all the way to the national championship and win!” said Craig.
Stewart-Lange said the women’s team’s goal is to win the National Championship as well.
“We have young ladies here who believe they can do that,” she said. “That makes me very proud and excited.”
As a coach and an alumna, Church is “super proud” of what the women’s basketball program has accomplished over the last decade. She said it is a testament to the young women who have come through the College’s program.
“They are the ones who have put in the work and made the sacrifices to be successful, on and off the court,” Church said. “Each and every one of them have made a significant contribution, whether they played a little or a lot in their time with us.”
While each year presents different challenges for every team, she said the season of COVID-19 will never be forgotten.