It's always a plus (to get a shutout). It's more of a pride thing. Every defensive player feels good and we'll get more momentum going into next week against a physical Wisconsin team.

Conditioning is what we pride ourselves on. That is number one for us. So when it's late in the fourth quarter, we're fresh and the other team is tired.

It has been a real point of pride. Industry is finding out that we have an engineering program here to be proud of. Being here (at Wilkes) in just three years, I've been surprised at how many engineering opportunities there are in this area. I didn't realize it from the outside.

It's disappointing. I think every guy's pride is hurt a little bit, especially the guys that have been around here for a while because we're not really used to getting pushed around, and we kind of did.

Tom took great pride in the fact he didn't miss a game. Like a lot of young broadcasters of the '60s and '70s, he learned that it was a 365-day a year job. You didn't take a day off just because you were ill. But, of all of us, he had the ironman streak.

That's the passion and the pride we play with, it's just about competing. I wanted them to show they are basketball players, not point guards or power forwards, but basketball players.