With football and cross-country ending, basketball takes center stage with its first game tonight against Saline County rival Benton.

“We just have to do what we in practice and we should be fine,” coach Mike Abrahamson said. “With a young team, it’s hard to say what were going to get every night, but I feel we can have consistency with this team.”

The team looked consistent with its win pre-season win over Pine Bluff by scoring 60 points.

“We’ve got two returning starters in Roman Martin and Kevin Hunt. They will bring us the most game experience even though they’re only sophomore and junior,” Abrahamson said. “They will both have to step up and take control of this team.”

Junior Kevin Hunt looked in mid-season form by scoring 21 points, while sophomore Roman Martin scored 8.

“I just look for our team to come out every week and play as hard as were practicing,” Martin said. “I expect for us to come out strong and beat Benton.”

As head coach for five years, Abrahamson has beaten Benton twice

“Benton has long been more of a basketball school than Bryant has,” Abrahamson said. “We’re still trying to turn the corner here permanently with basketball; we’ve had a couple of good seasons since I’ve been here, but were still working hard to turn this program around.”

The team did not beat Benton last year, but are optimistic about winning.

“This rivalry is heated and will probably be a close game,” Abrahamson said. “But if we come out and execute, I have the confidence that we can beat them.”