By Tomi Simmons
Over winter break, the McPherson College Men’s Basketball Team went to Puerto Rico to play two games. The boys were there for a week and did a various amount of activities. They ended the week with two wins and a closer bond to each other than ever before.
Freshman guard Jeffrey Oxford stated that the team had gone snorkeling in the ocean. “It was cool because I had never seen the ocean in person before Puerto Rico.” Sophomore Forward, Lual Magot also said,” the snorkeling, putting on a basketball camp for the youth and sightseeing was my favorite part. Giving back to the community there was really rewarding and meeting a lot of the people was cool.” The team saw battle sightings from the Spanish American War, went to old San Juan, cemeteries on the coast, and old government buildings. Magot said, “seeing the history of the area was so interesting!”
The culture was vastly different for the boys as well. Oxford said, “There was a lot of Spanish speaking and the drivers were crazy. The roads were extremely narrow and the laws did not seem to be set in stone. It was actually kind of scary driving around!”
As far as game time goes, the boys beat Universidad Del Sagrado Corazon 65-52; and Universidad De Puerto Rico Carolina 85-42. Lual Magot stated, “the two wins gave us momentum to lead into conference after break. We got a lot closer through this trip as well.” Oxford also said, “the trip was one to remember forever with the boys.” The McPherson College Bulldogs had an enjoyable and productive time in Puerto Rico.
