The Ohio Northern men’s basketball single season assist record has been broken once again. The Polar Bears’ point guard Joey Hurless surpassed the record of 171 assists, set previously by Kevin Sensabaugh in the 1998-99 season. Hurless broke this record with ten assists during their game against Heidelberg, which gave him 174 total for the season. After the Polar Bears’ regular season finale against Marietta on Saturday, the junior point guard now has 194 assist for the season.
When talking to Hurless about breaking the school record, he felt honored to be a part of such a great program. Hurless shares the glory with his teammates and feels lucky to play with such a talented group of guys. “They make the shots; I just pass it to them,”
Hurless said. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to do my job and make sure we’re in the best position to win because that’s what means the most to me.”
In today’s game of basketball, it is rather rare to come across a pass-first point guard. But in Hurless’s case he has grown into this role. Hurless has looked up to NBA stars Steve Nash and Chris Paul during his years of playing basketball. Hurless loves passing and setting up his teammates. He also enjoys being the court general. One of Hurless’ favorite things is making a call that leads to a wide open shot.
Travis Feitshans, who plays power forward for the Polar Bears, explains how much he and his team enjoys playing with a point guard like Hurless.
“Joey is a great decision maker and is very good at finding the open man,” Feitshans said.
One of the ways that Hurless shows his decision making skills is by his ability to find his teammates anywhere on the court and the ability to pass the ball. He has always worked on passing drills and goes the extra mile to find the right passes that his teammates like best.
“I take a lot of pride in knowing where every guy on our team likes catching the ball to shoot,” Hurless said. Feitshans says that Joey is a great leader and a great captain who leads by example every day at practice.
The Polar Bears’ finished the regular season 12-13 overall and 9-9 in conference play. Hurless has high hopes in his team to finish the season off on a high note in the conference tournament.
“The team has a very bright future,” Hurless said. “We’re almost where we need to be in order to compete at the top of the league.”