By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – They have already locked in their first-ever berth in the conference tournament.

But the Shorter men's basketball are more focused on reviving the form that earned them a spot into the Gulf South Conference postseason showdown and use it to pin down the home-court advantage in the tourney's first round over their final three regular season games.

In the midst of coping with their longest losing streak of the season, a four-game slide that has put them in a must-win situation to claim a first-round home game, the Hawks return to Winthrop-King Centre on Thursday night when Shorter hosts Delta State at 8 p.m.

"We have got to play better, coach better and compete better," head coach Chad Warner said as the Hawks enter the final drive to the postseason in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference standings with an 11-8 GSC record (16-9 overall) and one game away from being in a top-four position that lands a home date in the tournament first round. 

"That is our plan as we move forward towards the conference tournament," Warner added about the event that begins March 3 when the top four teams host the opening round before the tourney moves to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., for the semifinal and championships tilts.  "We would love to host a first round tournament game and in order for us to do so we will have to play our best basketball. 

"The time for talk is finished," he said. "We simply have to go out and earn it."

Two weeks ago, the Hawks had a share of the league's lead until they embarked on their longest road trip of the year.

That four-game swing resulted in four losses, a sudden slowdown in what had been an explosive offense – Shorter is the GSC's No. 2 team in scoring with an 85 points per game average but during the skid has averaged just 68 points – and in the middle of the series resulted in the loss of one of their senior leaders, point guard Travis Jones, who during a practice suffered a season-ending knee injury.

"We are obviously hurt for TJ," Warner said about the loss of Jones, which came last week and had an impact in the Hawks' road defeats at West Georgia and West Alabama. "But now it is time to play for him."

The Hawks host the Statesmen with three players bring double-digit averages into the game with senior guard Dedric Ware heading up the attack by averaging a team-best 18.8 points and 6.3 assists and doing it in workmanlike fashion as he remains on the court for nearly 37 minutes a game.

Although he has struggled during the four-game stretch, forward Jordan Jacks remains a potent threat as he averages 16.1 points and leads the team averaging nine rebounds a game and a 57 percent shooting touch, while forward Kordario Fleming has an 11.3 ppg average and is hitting 56 percent of his shots from the floor.

While it is vital that those three players continue to produce the numbers, the Hawks know that their deep depth – eight of them are averaging double-figures in playing minutes – has to up their games as Shorter's last three games of the regular season are against strong opponents.

Delta State, which is tied for fifth place in the GSC with Shorter and also vying for a home game in the first round of the tourney, downed the Hawks by five point last month in Mississippi and another team that bested the Hawks by the same margin in the Magnolia State on the same road trip, Mississippi College, arrives at Winthrop-King on Saturday in Shorter's final regular-season home game.

Shorter, which is riding an 11-game win streak on their own floor, wraps up the regular season on Feb. 28 visiting rival Lee.

"We are fortunate to get to play two of our last three at home where we have been really good this year," said Warner. "We have a great opportunity in front of us and we have to move forward."