STEPHANIE ARDELL

Ben Baker (left) and Stephon Lamar (right) each received awards for their exceptional play this past season.

Though their 2012-13 season concluded with an early playoff departure, point guards Ben Baker and Stephon Lamar of the Huskies men’s basketball team are departing the season with much to be proud of.

Both players were honoured with league awards following the season. Baker played his way to the Canada West top defensive player of the year award while Lamar scored Canada West MVP honours and was named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport first team all-Canadian.

“For me it’s pretty exciting. It’s the first time I’ve ever been acknowledged like that in my CIS career,” Baker said of his conference award. “I was kind of disappointed with the way the season ended, so it was kind of a nice surprise at the end of the season.”

Baker played an undeniably impressive season to earn the title. He accumulated 36 offensive and 127 defensive rebounds throughout the year, and was an integral part in keeping Huskies opponents to an average of just 77.6 points per game. Making his presence felt on the other end of the court too, Baker averaged 13.4 offensive points per game.

Lamar, who moved to Saskatoon from San Diego, Calif. to play with the Dogs this year, averaged 22.9 points per game in his first year in the league. He placed second in the country in points per game as well as fifth in assists, with 105. He was an exciting player to watch all season, but says he would trade his individual awards for a chance at a CIS title.

“It’s an honour to be considered one of the best players in the CIS. It’s a cool award to have and say I got, but I’d give that award away to get to play in nationals,” Lamar said.

Like all great players, Lamar pushes himself to improve even after being recognized as one of the country’s best university players.

“Being my own worst critic, I feel like I can always play better,” he said. “But overall I feel like I made my teammates better and I got better throughout the season with playing and getting used to the rules of the game here, because they’re different than America.”

Both players deserved their awards after a hard-working season, especially after the Christmas break when the team won 10 of their final 12 regular season games. In the end, the squad’s 16-6 win-loss ratio carried them to first place in the Canada West Prairie Division, a feat Lamar is impressed with given the early season reports.

“I’m proud of the team,” Lamar said. “Going into the season the media was writing us up because we were so young, but we ended up finishing first in our division and making the playoffs. That was great to me; just to see a lot of young guys coming together to win a lot of games and actually be a good team, rather than a maybe-next-year kind of team.”

The team entered the Canada West playoffs full of confidence, but the best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series against the Fraser Valley Cascades proved to be a tough task. It went to three games, but ultimately UFV’s unshakable shot percentage would earn the Cascades the series victory.

Both players have two years of eligibility remaining and are now looking to see what they can improve on to ensure a Canada West championship in the seasons to come. Baker recognizes the need for more consistency.

“Some nights we would prove that we were the top team in the country and other nights we would lose a game that we should have won,” Baker said. “I guess that is just a showing of inexperience, but it’s just something we have to work on: consistency throughout the season.”

Lamar summed up the players’ thoughts on a good season, unfortunate playoff run and hopeful future.

“We had a good season regardless of how it finished. The end was just the bad part; not everything can end like a movie.

“We beat a lot of good [teams], and lost to some bad ones. But I think we grew a lot as a team and next year we’re going to be a lot better,” Lamar said.

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Photos: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf