By Mia Ines

It has been nearly two years since the Windsor Lancers men's basketball team has competed in OUA regular season action and the team is preparing to get back onto the court and looking to develop their young talent.
 
Windsor opens the much anticipated 2021-22 OUA regular season on Wednesday, November 3rd against the Guelph Gryphons at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.
 
The pandemic brought on new sets of challenges for players to wonder if and when a season would be possible this year, every athlete had the time to be able to slow down their training and re-evaluate and develop new goals. Head coach Chris Cheng discusses, "not being around the team, not competing, and not able to apply what I learned over the pandemic on the court," were some of the hardest situations faced.
 
"It feels great to get back to the swing of things and being around the team on and off the floor. The players really missed the court, being around the team, and being coached. This whole pandemic really challenged us as it has with many but more so, gave us an opportunity to further appreciate the sport we love," explains Cheng.
 
Despite the departure of some key senior athletes, Cheng has no doubts that the team can go far in the season, being fortunate enough to get a pair of U SPORTS transfers in Josis Mikia-Thomas (Laurentian) and Xavier Ochu (Dalhousie) to help replace his graduating seniors, including forward Lukas Wood.
 
"We want to be back in the playoffs and to get passed the first round. This would be an improvement from last season before the pandemic. Ultimately, we want to win an OUA championship."
 
Among the familiar faces, veterans Thomas Kennedy and Telloy Simon will be ones to watch, bringing both their experience and aggressive play to the team. Cheng describes their leadership demonstrated on and off the court has been outstanding and they have the beat of the team to get them to where they want to be. 
 
The Lancers begin their season at home at the St. Denis Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 8:00pm against the Guelph Gryphons. Tickets are available in a limited capacity at goLancers.ca/tickets and the game can also be seen live on OUA.tv.