Imagine yourself on the basketball court. The sweat runs down your back and the sides of your face. You dribble the ball, a constant zinging that fills your ears. Your heart pounds from the rush of adrenaline from your sprint down the court.

The squeak of sneakers on the court's floor rises above the stomping, clapping, whistling and screaming of the spectators.

According to Ryan Smith, the Ambassador's 6-foot-9-inch player from Rock Springs, Wyo., the crowd interaction is great. "It gets us going. It motivates us to work harder and makes the game more exciting," he said.

Smith is just one of the seven new players joining Multnomah Bible College's basketball team this year, along with Jason Schlafmann, Matt Baldwin, Nick Sirianni, John Turner, Matt Terveen and Ryan Moffat. Returning players are Larry Peacock, Sam Couture and Henry Barrera.

According to Coach Chris Reese, Multnomah's athletic director and coach of the men's basketball team, the team's strength this year is its defense. "Our defense is definitely ahead of our offense," he said. "We're smart and we're intense. We don't just play hard, but we play with our minds."

The team started conditioning the second week of September. In order to be physically fit for the season, the players lift weights at least three times a week, do agility exercises two times a week and practice basketball every day.

"Playing basketball for Multnomah is a lot of self-discipline and time management," Coach Reese said. Players find themselves juggling a schedule of classes, homework, basketball, work and social time.

"It's hard," Smith said. "You don't have a social life. There's ball and studying and little time for social things unless you don't want to sleep."

Coach Reese said he puts high expectations on his players. "I expect my players to rise above the normal level. We have other guidelines [than Multnomah's] that we have to follow, like with our hair and dress," he said.

Along with a high expectation on appearance, he expects the players to perform well in their classes. Players sit in the front three rows in class to help them keep focused. They run sets if they earn below a "C." Players must attend classes or run for any cuts they take. They need to study a minimum of one hour for every hour they attend class. This year, the team has a GPA goal of 3.0.

According to Coach Reese, the players accept the guidelines. "They don't say, 'Oh, come on, Coach. Why can't it be like this?' They understand the role of a Christian athlete," he said.

For Matt Baldwin, being on the team makes him feel he is "part of something special; it's a group of guys that support each other and give all to defend one another."

John Turner said that being on the team means a lot to him. He played college football last year and transferred to Multnomah this year. "I like playing with guys who believe the same way I do," he said. "Even when we lose, we know what we're playing for."

Larry Peacock, a third-year Ambassador, said, "Every year we have the goal of going to nationals. I like the challenge of taking the steps to get there. But it depends on how much each of us puts our hearts into it."

According to Coach Reese, the team members want to be an example of Christ wherever they go, whether in an airport, at a restaurant or on the court. Often, people approach him about the team and tell him that he has a great group of men.

"In a way, we're in the spotlight. People come and watch us. People on campus know who the ball players are," Coach Reese said. "I think our players want to be known for who they are spiritually, their work ethic and their dedication -- not just by the label of being a jock. But for them not to have that, they have to work at the other stuff to be examples. These guys aren't your typical athlete. They love God.

"They have faults. They struggle. But we ask them to step it up." He said that much more goes on during the season than the game of basketball.

The team wants to reach out to the community through basketball. On Nov. 23, the team is planning a canned-food drive where students will bring cans of food in exchange for admission to that night's game. The team will distribute the food to needy people. Also, the team plans to visit the Portland Rescue Mission and Doernbecher's Children's Hospital.

Coach Reese said the team's weakness this year is its youth. "They're going to have to make the transition from high school to college. In college ball, you're a lot stronger and quicker. But these kids are going to get it right away. They learn pretty quick," he said. "The last three years, our strength has been our 3-point shooting. We have good shooters, but it's not the firepower. I think it's a good defense team. Good defense will actually win you a lot of games. I put something in our team room that says, 'Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, rebounds win championships.'"

"The team is young and inexperienced at the college level," Peacock said. "But our strength is defensive rebounding. That will get us through the year."

According to Turner, the hardest transition this year is the separation from his family. Turner said he misses seeing his family daily. He misses his sister and his 1-year-old niece. Yet he loves the game of basketball. He said he loves the competition.

When Baldwin is on the court, he said he goes on everything he's learned since he began playing basketball in second or third grade. "Sometimes I don't hear the coach -- I'm so focused on everything else," he said.

When Turner is on the court, he said, "I'm always trying to think about what the team is doing -- think about how to help the other people play better and how to give to the team."

According to Peacock, playing is "a non-stop rush. Your mind is going a million miles an hour. All the stuff that's going on adds to the excitement of playing the game. It's easy to focus, but the focusing is more intense."