The University of St. Thomas men's basketball program is having another special season. The Celts are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation in Division III polls and are looking to win their eighth straight championship, and they are doing so.
It's a fact in sports, defense wins championships.
"We're the best defense we're going to play against," UST guard Corey Thompson from Hightower said. "And we play against each other every day."
At the University of St. Thomas, the men's basketball program has been winning a lot and playing a lot of defense.
"We're a family, we play together, we play hard, we know what we gotta do on the defensive end," guard Angel Johnson from Atascocita said.
"I come from a defensive mindset in high school, so it was really easy to transfer over," Reyce Allen from Summer Creek said.
"Flying around, you know, just applying pressure all the time; it's the best," Thompson said.
Celts have built a championship program under four-time Coach of the Year and UST graduate Anthony Medina.
"It doesn't come from me all the time," Medina said. "It comes from them. That's really them, like they manage the locker room, they manage the huddle, they manage the team. I'm just the guardrails."
For the last five seasons, UST is 112-20 overall. They've only lost eight conference games in that time and are looking to hang more banners on the walls of Jerabeck Center.
"I don't think that we overanalyze the offensive end nearly as much as we do defense because we feel like if we can keep you from scoring enough points, we'll figure out how to get them on the board to get a win," Coach Medina said.
When the Celts hosted Texas Lutheran College on Friday, it wasn't all about basketball. The UST community celebrated the life of Dr. Jack Follis, who has been described as the biggest athletics fan for the university.
"Biggest fan, one of our biggest fans," Angel Johnson said.
Dr. Jack was a graduate who went on to become an Associate Professor in Mathematics at St. Thomas. He has attended every athletic event for years and would stand in the same place during games.
"He genuinely supported them in the things that they cared about," Coach Medina said. "He showed up for them in the things that they loved, and he made their passion his passion."
Dr. Jack won't be at any more games in person, but a plaque will be displayed on the wall at the spot he stood every game, forever.
"That's a big one right therein the community," Angel Johnson said. "He's beloved here."