GREAT FALLS — The Providence men's basketball team had a solid start to the season, but fell to one game below .500 heading into the Christmas break after a five-game losing streak.
Since then, the Argos have gone 4-2 with the return of leading scorers Marcus Stephens and Davien Harris-Williams. In his first game back against Dickinson State, Harris-Williams hit nine 3-pointers and totaled a career high 34 points. The following day Stephens scored a team-high 26 points on 80% shooting in a 20-point victory.
“I think it’s a product of the work,” said Harris-Williams. “I work a lot on my game and I think it just showed.”
Stephens is currently averaging 20.7 points per game while Harris-Williams is leading the team with 23.8 points per game. But their impact goes beyond the stat sheet. Since Day 1 of practice they have stepped into leadership roles and motivated their teammates from the sidelines, pushing them as hard as they can to be successful.
“I try to be the heart of the team,” said Harris-Williams. “Bring energy every day and instill confidence in my guys so we are ready for war every night.”
Stephens also added, “I try to bring leadership to thew court everyday. Lead by example and lead vocally.”
Both Stephens and Harris-Williams were part of the conference-winning title team for the Argos in 2021, and look to make another run this year. The rest of the Frontier Conference has a hard time believing that will happen for the Argos — the preseason coaches poll has Providence finishing in a tie for last place.
“Every one of those sheets are in the locker room right now. They’ve been in there since day one,” said head coach Steve Keller. “We were picked last and we talked about that. We would have to go out and prove. We are sitting in second by ourselves right now but we also know it’s not far from the top to the bottom so we have to show up every game.”
The Argos will be back in action Thursday night as they host MSU-Northern in a rematch from early December where Providence edged the lights in double overtime.
