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Athens' Dalton Cozart (#20) drives to the basket against Wellston on Jan. 13, 2016. (FILE)

Athens Basketball: Bulldogs look to take early TVC lead over weekend

The main goal for Athens going into this season was simple: win the Tri-Valley Conference. 

A win Friday will help move the Bulldogs toward that goal. With the Bulldogs traveling to Alexander, they will be looking to move to 3-0 in conference play. That would put the Bulldogs in sole control of first place for the conference moving forward, and after a slow start to the season in non-conference games, it has been a good turnaround.

“We’re excited to get into league play, it’s what we play for,” coach Mickey Cozart said. “A chance to win a TVC title.”

Last season, when Athens and Alexander played, it was two low scoring affairs: 39-26 and 48-31. This season, it seems as if the games will play out differently. Alexander wants to play more in transition; Athens loves to play in transition. Those facts seem to promise a higher scoring game than the two games last season. 

“Hopefully it’s that kind of game, we want that kind of game,” Cozart said. “If we both can be getting up and down, it will be a definitely a different game than what we played last year.”

And after the game Friday, the Bulldogs will have to turn around and travel to Logan for a game Saturday night. It will be the first time that Athens plays Logan since the 2012-13 season, which the Bulldogs won 65-51. 

The Bulldogs expect a tough game against the Chieftains, as Logan is a well-rounded team. 

“They have a lot of weapons,” Cozart said. 

Obviously the Bulldogs want to win both games over the weekend. A win Friday puts them in the driver’s seat early in the TVC. It also brings them back to a .500 record. A loss would put them a position that they don’t want to be in.

Winning both games would give the Bulldogs a winning record, a quick and needed recovery from the 0-3 start to the season, but winning the conference game Friday night will be the most important to reaching the main goal: winning the conference.

“You gotta give yourself a little bit of a lead,” Cozart said. “Giving yourself a cushion is always a good thing.”

@trevor_colgan

tc648714@ohio.edu

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