AACC’s men’s basketball team will play 85% of its games away this spring, and 70% of the women’s competitions will be off campus.
The Region 20 Basketball Committee created a master schedule for both teams, which frontloaded home games in fall 2023 and backloaded away matches in spring 2024. Out of 13 scheduled games this semester, the men’s team will play only two at home, and the women will play four.
“I wish [the schedule] would have been more mixed up and spread out,” men’s team forward Kris Peet said. “It’s … adversity. But we’ve been facing adversity the whole year so it’s nothing new. … We love a challenge.”
The Riverhawks ended the first half of the season with a 4-8 record.
Peet, a first-year transfer studies student, added: “I like playing away games. … Our last away game was probably our best one.”
Members of both teams said they play better during away games.
Guard Jeremiah Stroman said the team “plays better away” and playing on the road will be better for the team.
“You’re not comfortable,” Stroman, a second-year film student, said. “We’re in somebody else’s place and we have to come and win. I think playing at home is more stagnant. … We played too much at home [last semester] and we just got comfortable.”
Men’s head coach Joe Snowden said he “doesn’t like” the stretch of away games, but said the long bus rides are a good opportunity for players to bond.
“You get to understand your teammates a little bit better when you’re jam-packed on a bus,” Snowden said. “You now know your teammate has a heart, he has emotions, he is understanding. These long trips are tough on … any athlete.”
Women’s forward Ayannah Gorham agreed the long bus rides are “a big bonding moment” for the team and the better team chemistry results in better performance.
Guard Bianca Garin added the bus rides are “building trust” within the team.
“I like the pressure of being away,” Garin, a second-year medical student, said. “I like the fans booing. … It drives me more. … But what I hate is as soon as we, like, arrive at a venue we have to play immediately. We don’t have time to rest at all.”
The trips can range from 15 minutes to four hours.
