PNW men’s basketball finished the regular season with an 87-86 loss against Governors State University on Feb. 18.

Matt Bush, head coach, said the team has played the best they have all season. Bush said that the team hopes to qualify for the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and compete in it.

“I think we have the team in a pretty good position. We have not done anything yet, but we are going to position ourselves much better and do something special,” Bush said. “A big concern was that we had a lot of injuries this year. Now we are finding healthy players.”

Men’s basketball still has a spot in the CCAC tournament, despite losing.

Bush said that the winner of the CCAC tournament gets an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament.

“It has been our goal since the beginning of the year,” Bush said.

He said the team has improved their defense and that the team, statistically, is near the top in many categories. Bush also said he is proud of the players.

Cyril Lewis, senior forward, said the team struggled with finding their identity in the beginning of the season. Lewis said that he believes with the regular season approaching its end, they have found it.

“We are going to win a tournament. That is our goal,” Lewis said. “We are trying to capitalize on everything we are going to do. We are ready and hungry.”

Mike Williams, senior guard, said he is confident that the team will head into the tournament and that he hopes to improve their results.

“I don’t want to say I’m satisfied with the results so far because we have a goal which hasn’t been completed yet,” Williams said. “I am trying to reach it, and I will be satisfied then.”

Men’s basketball plays on Feb. 21 in the opening game of the CCAC Quarterfinals.