If there was one suitable word to describe the men’s basketball team’s season in 2007-08, it undoubtedly would be the following: adversity.

Forced to deal with several untimely injuries and the disappointment of what seemed to be countless late-game losses, the Crimson Eagles hobbled to 3-21 record for the season and finished 3-11 in North Eastern Athletic Conference competition.

Playing with a young and somewhat inexperienced squad at the collegiate level following the loss of four routine starters from a year ago, PBU generally faced an uphill battle against much more veteran teams. Heading into the season with only four players on the roster that averaged more than 10 minutes a game the previous year, inexperience quickly became a factor - particularly early on - when many Crimson Eagle players were receiving their first taste of collegiate-level basketball.

To compound matters, junior Tom Arthur missed the first seven games of the season with a knee injury and was forced to watch from the sidelines as PBU struggled to a 0-7 record without their NCCAA II All-American forward. But the return of Arthur along with “do-it-all” guard Willie Miller at the beginning of the second semester helped provided some much needed support on both ends of the floor as PBU averaged 14.2 more points per game and allowed 15.8 less points per game following the return of the duo.

With the aid of Miller and Arthur in the lineup, the Crimson Eagles managed to secure several notable upsets during NEAC play. PBU’s first victory of the season came in the form of a 74-68 thriller over D’Youville College during which the Crimson Eagles’ all-important bench provided 39 points. PBU also snagged narrow victories against Keuka College (87-83) and Penn State Harrisburg (71-63) late in the season, with all three victories coming in Langhorne behind the support the Crimson Eagle faithful.

Despite several encouraging wins, PBU’s Achilles Heel of closing out games down the stretch proved to be costly as the basketball team lost eight contests by 11 points or less and four games by five points or less in a season stamped with numerous “what-could-have-beens”.

Arthur led the way statistically for PBU, averaging a double-double for the year and finishing third in the NEAC in scoring (20.3) and first in rebounding (10.8). Additionally, the native of Forked River, NJ ended third overall in field goal percentage (50.9) and fifth in blocked shots (1.35) and managed to net his 1000th career point on January 15th to become the second fastest player in PBU history to reach the historic milestone. For his efforts, Arthur was selected to the NEAC All Conference First Team, NCCAA II East Region First Team, and NCCAA II Honorable Mention All American Team.

Sophomore guard Willie Miller finished as the only other Crimson Eagle to average double figures, charting in 10.2 points/game while averaging a team high 3.4 assists/game for the year. Senior forward Otis Caston ended second on the team after snagging 4.4 rebounds/game, junior forward Austin McCardle hit a team high 52.6 percent of his shots from the field, and third-year forward Ben Fuller chipped in 6.2 points/game and 3.0 rebounds/game.