Student Life Archives

When most people hear the words wet and fraternity in the same sentence, drinking comes to mind. But last Tuesday, wet and fraternity meant the annual point league intramural swimming competition.

The atmosphere at Millstone Pool was electric, as well as humid. Everyone was rooting and cheering so loud for their fellow fraternity members during every event that it was impossible even to hear yourself think.

Though there was the spirit of competition, the event was by no means intense. There were several moments of levity and humor during the competition. The most comical event had to be when one of the competitors actually lost his shorts when he dove into the water during one of the swimming events. Instead of stopping, he kept on swimming, put up a decent time and when he was done, just came out of the pool without putting on his shorts. Luckily, he had on a jockstrap, but that did not help the people behind him.

In general if one had to break up the motives for participating in the swim meet, it would probably be 10 percent to get points and 90 percent to have fun. This was demonstrated by the fact that a lot of pledges did not know exactly how the point system worked.

“I am sure first place is a bunch of points and second place is a little less,” said SAE pledge Teddy Kermin.

John Davidson from Theta Xi best represented a typical competitor at the meet. He’s a freshman pledge who participated in the 50-meter free style and 50-meter butterfly, came dead last in each and did not seem perturbed by this fact at all. He just seemed to be enjoying the experience.

“It’s a good time, you get to see all the new guys and see who is getting initiated,” said Davidson.

Talent, however, was polarized. Some of the competitors looked like they were gold medal winners while others obviously had no swimming experience at all.

“Yeah some of them look too good. I think next time they should try to change it to the most out of shape people they can find,” said Davidson jokingly.

In many cases it turned out that some of the participants had ample backgrounds in swimming.

“I’m doing pretty good in the meet so far,” said Kermin. “I almost swam for the school but decided not to. I just didn’t feel like it, it was just too much time.”

There are rules to prevent people with too much experience in a particular event from competing in that event.

“If you swim or dive on the varsity then you cannot do that sport,” said Kappa Sigma member Ryan Braun, who also happens to be on the varsity diving team at Washington University.

Though every fraternity claims to be the best, there did seem to be a favorite for this swimming competition. When asked who is the fraternity to beat, Sigma Phi Epsilon member David Brignoni was able to name the heavyweight.

“It’s tough to say, but I probably have to say Sigma Chi,” he said.

Despite the fact that this swim meet was predominately a fraternity event, there were other groups that participated as well. There were some medical students who were able to take time out of their busy schedules to compete as well.

“Yeah it was fun, it was cool,” said medical student Alison Derby. “There were a bunch of people who were all swimmerish and some people who had never swam before. We all just decided to come down here and have a good time.”

It just goes to show you that any event that has both fraternity members and medical school students is bound to be a good time. This swim meet did turn out to be as wet and wild as a fraternity party; only, the alcohol was replaced with water.

About twenty Pirates games, two Steelers games, three monster truck jamzzz and the Shriner’s circus. Yeah, that’s all I’ve ever seen at Three Rivers Stadium. You know, it’s kinda funny because I think I’m gonna miss it. I remember returning to my home in Pittsburgh this past year and hearing everybody say exciting things about the two new stadiums currently being built. The new baseball stadium will be the most technologically advanced stadium in the world, or at least that’s what I heard. La de da de da. Even more expensive hotdogs.

Originally, the baseball stadium was to be named Clemente Park in memory of the famous Puerto Rican with the gun and the 3,000 hits. The people in Pittsburgh are absolutely crazy about Clemente. More so than Chuck Noll.who’s that? Just kidding, but for those of you who don’t know he was the guy who coached the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles.

So really, what’s up with purchasing naming rights to a stadium? See, this bank in my town, just up the street from where I live, was always known to me as Pittsburgh National Bank. Soon it changed to Pittsburgh National Bank Corporation. Now they are known only as PNC. Next thing I know, I’m waiting in line at the Washington University bookstore in St. Louis and the guy in front of me pulls out a PNC card. I say like a schmuck, “Hey man, you from Pittsburgh?” It turns out that they have a PNC where he lives-Tennessee. I guess the bank pulled that Kentucky-Fried-Chicken-to-KFC-value-meal deal.

Of course, the new baseball stadium will be devoid of the name Clemente and become known as PNC Park. To me, this is sadder than Boyz II Men doing a Hardee’s commercial and actually singing the line “fresh tastin’ biscuits.” in their fresh soundin,’ post-Motown style.

So I guess what I find so interesting is the strange evolution of events that surrounds the whole issue of stadium naming. PNC Bank buys the naming rights to a new stadium from the city. People think the bank cares about baseball. The public forms a wholesome image of PNC Bank, and future people think “Hey they have a stadium!” These people trust the bank with their life’s savings. Indeed, this is exactly what the bank planners hope to happen. More money goes into their bank, and thus they become bigger and more successful because they loan out your money while you believe it’s collecting interest. Pretty sneaky.

Then, PNC Bank decides to name the new place PNC Park. All the Pirates fans say to themselves, “Man what’s their deal? That’s such a rip-off! What happened to Clemente?” The PNC marketing team would be baffled if so many people weren’t just pretending to like baseball. Otherwise the “fans” would be enraged that Clemente was not honored in a logical manner and choose to remove their money from the particular bank. I mean, the naming of a stadium in a sports-hungry town is well worth a great name that represents the city, such as the late Three Rivers Stadium. Worth switching banks, I hope.

Do the people take any more action? Nope, they feed the PNC monster more. So do I. I must admit that PNC does have control of my family’s money. How else would I have the card? But I don’t care about sports as much as some people do. I believe that many people who get really involved in sports have ulterior motives.

Take the guy who gets drunk at the baseball game. There are many like him. I honestly believe that if the game was already sold out when he went to buy tickets, he would go and get drunk somewhere else. In reality though, he is missing the game because he is screaming in my ear giving a high-five to the next drunk guy on the other side of my date. So are they really there for the sports? It’s doubtful. Otherwise, they would not allow this corporate naming because they care about where their team calls “Home.”

Soon enough it will be PNC Museum of Art, and then the PNC Penguins and I guess I’m just kind of sad that me, the guy who is supposed to dislike sports, is the only one from Pittsburgh that ever spoke up (I’m writing this, aren’t I?). There were no clipboards to sign, anti-PNC campaigns, or even sunny day strikes. There was none of that. I would have actually supported them, even if they did interrupt my dinner. Oh well, what can you do? Anyway, have a good week, and look out for March Sadness next week.

Thurman Thomas sits in front of his television. “Edgerrin James will have to shoulder the load today in order for the Colts to win their first playoff game under Jim Mora,” says long-time member of the Fox pre-game show Howie Long. Thomas thinks for a second and is convinced the irony of the statement is not meant to bring up any past memories. It’s been ten years since Thomas has walked onto the football field in an NFL uniform. Ten years since his retirement went unnoticed after he played his last two years in Miami. Ten years since Thomas gave up his quest for a NFL Championship.

Thomas has enough of the pre-game show and walks outside where his neighbor’s kids are playing football. “Mr. Thomas, how long did it take you to win a Super Bowl,” asks one of them. Thomas takes a breath and then says, “I never won one.” The bottomless pit within his stomach feels emptier than before. “Why not?” quips the other kid. “It’s part of life,” Thomas replies. He turns around, ever muscle in his body cringing. “Thurman, they’re just kids,” he thinks to himself and walks away.

Thomas was never guilty of not winning games, just of not winning a Super Bowl. He did, however, lose three. Unfortunately, that’s all people will remember about “Thermal” Thomas. Not his eight consecutive 1,000+ yard rushing seasons. Not his two straight 2,000+ total yards seasons. Thomas will be labeled a loser. He will have an “L” on his forehead that can’t be erased.

Sunday’s games are over and Thomas turns on ESPN. His “partner in crime” Jim Kelly is talking about the league’s opening wild-card games. “It’s just another tough loss for Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James. They will never forget this one,” says Kelly. Thomas nods, then feels that lump in his throat begin to grow. Every night before he goes to sleep, the infamous name “Scott Norwood” enters his mind. The kicker who missed a field goal which could have ended all of Thomas’ misery. A kicker who could have given Thomas an NFL championship, a definite entrance into the Hall of Fame, and a life easier to live. However, life is unkind to too many in this world.

Thomas thinks to himself about his retirement. “Why did I end my career in Miami when I could have retired earlier on in Buffalo?” Thomas asks himself. Although `technically’ ending his career in Buffalo, he spent two injury-riddled and hopeless seasons in Miami. Thomas dropped off of the football map when he signed with the Dolphins. If he had chosen to retire a Bill, perhaps fans would have realized what a great football player was leaving the game. Instead, two years later, fans forgot of Thomas’ career in the NFL and focused on the future ones of younger, quicker running backs.

After all, fans want to see the flashy plays. They don’t want to see a grinder who does the job. They don’t want to see a team player. Two Thurman Thomases could never equal a Randy Moss. Just like that, Thomas was gone quicker than a disappearing David Copperfield.

Is it fair that the former Pro-Bowler will be labeled a failure? No. However, true football fans will remember Thomas not as a loser, but one who just fell a field goal short. After all, Thomas himself did not miss the kick. Real fans will remember him for his ability to not just run the football, but to catch it as well. Fans will remember the steam coming off Thomas’ bald head in sub-20 degree weather at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Most of all, Thomas will be remembered for that smile. A smile which was maintained throughout times of defeat. It lingers not as the sign of a loser, but of a true athlete.

Thomas wrestles with himself as he tries to go to sleep. He replays every play of every Super Bowl over in head. “That’s life,” he says to himself. Ease presides over the former back. It’s just another day for Thurman Thomas.

At the close of last season, the Washington University men’s tennis team was ranked fourth in the Midwest region and fourteenth in the nation. In last year’s national tournament, the Bears beat 24th ranked St. Thomas 7-0 and fell to Top 5-ranked Gustavus Adolphus, 4-3. Unfortunately the Bears’ national ranking didn’t carry over to the pre-season rankings. Following a rough appearance at the Rolex Invitational back in October, they were shut out of a national ranking and are currently ranked seventh in the Midwest region.

Despite the close loss last spring, as well as losing three key seniors to graduation in Arun Nanjappa, Mike Doyle, and Mark Friedman, the Bears have reloaded with a few freshmen who are seeing regular playing time. This season kicked off in what will be a regular thing for this team-an away match. The Bears will have only three home matches, with the first not coming until after the first of April. The team traveled Saturday to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to play in the Coe College Tournament and came away with one win and one loss on the

weekend.

The Bears first took on the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse early Saturday morning. The final match score was 6-1 with WU coming out on top. Within the individual matches there were some definite small victories: sophomore Jay Shah, playing No. 6 singles clinched his first WU career win (6-2, 6-4). Playing No. 2 singles, freshman Brian Alvo captured his first WU career win pretty easily (6-2, 6-3). Junior co-captain Mike Feldman took care of his opponent at No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-2) and freshman Chee Lee nabbed his first WU victory (7-6, 6-1).

Later that afternoon, WU faced host Coe College, currently ranked fourteenth in the nation. The matches were tied at three a piece with No. 6 singles still on the court in what would be the deciding game in the head-to-head match-up. Unfortunately, Lee was defeated (6-4, 6-4) to seal the victory for Coe. But just to get the Bears to that decisive point, two of the doubles teams played extremely well in two very close matches. At No. 2 doubles, sophomores Max Schlather and David Genovese won the eight game pro-set (9-7). And at No. 3 doubles, freshmen Brain Alvo and Chee Lee also clinched a (9-7) win.

Even with a win and a loss, the overall team consensus was that it was a pretty good performance, despite the players’ being a bit rusty.

“It was definitely a positive experience because we showed ourselves we are capable and should have beat one of the top teams in the nation,” junior co-captain Patrick Doyle said. Feldman added, “We know we can compete with anyone in the nation.”

However, the team’s line-up is not yet permanent. With incoming freshmen that are playing well enough to see consistent playing time, the positions are interchangeable. “The difference between No. 1 singles and the No. 6 singles is very minimal,” Feldman noted. “We are very balanced. We will beat teams with depth.”

WU will put that theory to use next weekend when it travels to Atlanta, Ga., to take on University Athletic Association rival, Emory University. Emory is coming off a second place finish at the inaugural NCAA Division III National Indoor Team Championships. Therefore, the upcoming match should prove to be challenging for the Bears. According to Doyle, “Its not a question of them being unbeatable.”

To come away with a win, “Everyone needs to be on top of their game and supportive of one another,” continued Alvo.

Last year’s match, a loss for WU, was much closer than the score may indicate (5-2). “We have a team based on speed rather than all power,” said Feldman. “[Emory] just has big power

players.”

The test between speed and power will play out this upcoming Sunday on the Emory courts. Commenting on the conditions of playing on the road, Doyle said, “Of course it is easier to win at home even with zero fans than to win on the road with a bunch of rabid opponent’s fans constantly trying to distract you.”

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team (2-0) picked up its first two regular season victories on Saturday with a 6-3 win over Luther College and a 9-0 shut out of Nebraska Wesleyan University. The number one through six singles players went undefeated for the weekend, and although the top three doubles teams fell to Luther, they were all victorious against Wesleyan. Sophomore Jenny Stein, senior Nandini Chaturvedula and junior Shilpa Reddy led the women as the top three singles players. Stein and Chaturvedula paired up for the No. 1 doubles team. The women’s next match is at DePauw University on Tuesday, March 6.

Indoor Track

The women’s indoor track team took first and the men placed second at the DePauw Invite on Saturday. Sophomore Valerie Lasko took first in the 55 meter dash [7.61] and 200 run [27.05], while freshmen Mindy Kuhl and Melanie Mikecz finished first [2:22.43] and second place [2:23.30] in the 800 run, respectively.

Also finishing in first place for WU were sophomore Brooke Lane in the 3,000 [11:04.54], senior Susan Chou in the 5,000 [18:16.33], and senior Suzi Ramsey in the 55 meter hurdles [8.62].

The women also captured first in field events, including sophomore Elizabeth Stoll in the high jump [1.63m], freshman Kammie Holt in the long jump [5.09m], freshman Lindsey Clark-Ryan in the triple jump [10.08m], and senior Natasha Richmond in the shot put and weight throw [11.93 and 13.27, respectively].

Finishing first for the men in track events were junior Todd Bjerkaas in the 55 meter dash [6.68] and 200 meter run [23.19], and senior Marc O’Neal in the 600 [1:23.77]. In the longer events, senior Nathan Herschberger and senior Pat MacDonald took first in the 1,500 [4:05.32] and 5,000 meter runs [15:26.48], respectively.

Freshman Jon Wetherbee placed first in the men’s long jump as well [6.26m].

WU also grabbed first place in the men’s distance relay with a time of 10:24.23.

The men and women conclude their season with the UAA Championships this weekend at Case Western Reserve University.

Women’s Swimming

Four WU swimmers have qualified for the 20th annual NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships to be held March 8-10 at Buffalo, NY. Two of the women will swim in individual events. Junior Lindsay Wilkinson is entered in the 50 and 100 freestyle and also the 100 backstroke. Senior Elisa Annelin, though she is entered in four events, will swim in the 100 and 200 breastroke and the 200 IM. Sophomore Rachel Feldman and freshman Lindsay Wells will join Wilkinson and Annelin in the 200 and 400 medley relay, as well as the 200 and 400 freestyle relay.

The men’s national qualifiying results will be announced Thursday, March 1.

Men’s Lacrosse

The WU men’s lacrosse club team defeated the University of Missouri-Columbia 12-11 on Saturday for their third win of the season. The game was a rematch of last year’s meeting between the two teams, in which the Bears knocked off Mizzou 11-10 in an overtime victory. Saturday’s game was another close match, but the Bears prevailed to beat the Tigers by one point. The men will have their first home game of the year this Friday, March 2 against Michigan State University. They will also be at home for two additional games before spring break, on March 4th against Indiana University and March 8th versus University of Missouri-Rolla. All home games will take place on the South 40 Intramural Field.

The Washington University women’s basketball team stared down a one way street Saturday. It was lose and face possible exclusion from the post-season, or win and rely on either a coin toss for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament or an at-large bid from the tournament selection committee.

The Bears ended up going in the right direction en route to a decisive 66-63 victory over a tough and scrappy University of Chicago team. The win gave the Bears a share in their fourth consecutive University Athletic Association championship and earned them a first-round bye in the tournament. WU will host a second round playoff game this Saturday.

Against Chicago, the Bears seniors saw heavy minutes in their final game of the regular season. Forward Tasha Rodgers and shooting guard Sara Ettner took it upon themselves to continue the Bears’ run of UAA dominance. Rodgers notched 14 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes, while Ettner poured in 17 points during 34 minutes of playing time. Three of Ettner’s 17 points came on a three-pointer with 1:01 left in the second half to break a 59-59 tie.

Overcoming a seven-point deficit at halftime, the Bears took the lead late in the second half. Ettner’s late-game heroics sealed the victory for WU, who now will enter the postseason in anticipation of grabbing their fourth straight national championship.

Since the Bears tied the New York University Violets atop the UAA standings, and because each squad notched a victory against each other at the opposing team’s arena, a coin flip decided the immediate fate for both teams’ post-season appearance. The Violets won the coin toss and received the conference’s automatic bid, shifting WU’s fate to the hands of the NCAA selection committee. Nevertheless, WU remained a heavy favorite to enter the tournament due to their No.1 ranking as seen on D3Hoops.com.

The Bears learned of their fate late Sunday night, as they found out they would get a bye in the first round and take on the winner of Wednesday’s Wisconsin-Eau Claire (22-5) vs. Lakeland (24-3) first-round game.

The second-round game is scheduled for Saturday, March 3 at the Field House.

In order to gain the bye and the right to host the second round game, the Bears had to defeat a University of Chicago team whose only home loss came at the hands of NYU. Although WU started out of the gate slowly on Saturday, they were able to overcome it and leave with a win. However, the Bears will be facing much stiffer competition in the NCAA tournament, where early leads can transfer into tragic defeats. WU has made it a habit as of late to let other teams establish the tempo.

“We have definitely talked about [the slow starts],” said sophomore forward, Jen Rudis. “We know if we want to get anywhere we can’t come out and play like that.”

The Bears led by only two at the end of the first half against Emory last week, and were down by seventeen in the first half in their narrow loss at NYU. While most of the Bears’ opponents were not playing for a championship this season, every team in the

tournament will be.

Regardless, this isn’t enough to worry the battle-tested Rodgers.

“I don’t think there’s any team in this division that can finish [us] off,” she said.

“We’ve gotten off to slow starts, but there is no one that can put us away. I attribute [slow starts] as our [personal] weakness.”

Emotions are running high as the Bears enter March. WU, which appeared invincible last year, no longer has to concern itself with the consecutive games winning streak. As opposed to the title teams of the past couple years, this year’s Bears team will have to worry about a championship ring and the ring alone.

“We’re just different in all aspects,” said Ettner. “[We have] somewhat of a different

talent level. [We are] a little more inconsistent.”

Said Rodgers: “There’s definitely a difference between this year and last year’s team at least. We had an entirely different chemistry. We’re still looking for one another on the court. There is a difference. I’m not really worried. We have to come out with passion and love for the game.”

Selection Sunday is less than two weeks away. Teams are in heated races for the final at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament. The Bubble Watches have begun and with this, fans begin to map out who they feel will be the big winners next month. This week’s big stories:

The Virginia Cavaliers are good and nobody can dispute that. Pete Gillen has his team ranked 11th in the country with big wins over ACC rivals Duke and Maryland. However, last Sunday they sent a statement to the rest of the country. The Cavs easily defeating No.2-ranked North Carolina 86 – 66. Virginia used a 22 – 6 run in the first half to turn a two-point deficit into a fourteen-point lead. They would never look back. The Cavaliers improved to 8 – 6 in the difficult ACC and 19 – 6 overall.

“When we play, we can play with anybody in the country,” Gillen said. “We just want to try to be as close to what we did today as many times as we can. That’s what the great teams do.”

As the final horn went off, students stormed the floor as they had done last week against Duke. The Cavalier fans could get used to this as their team is putting itself in position for a run at the ACC title and also a national championship.

The Iowa State Cyclones were thinking about a number one seed in next month’s tournament. Maybe they were looking too far ahead. The Cyclones got easily handled by unranked Texas last Saturday night 94 – 78, giving Iowa State very little chance for the vaunted top seed. Maurice Evans scored 28 points for the Longhorns, who snapped Iowa State’s ten game conference winning streak.

“We’ve been working hard all year trying to have this kind of effort,” said Evans, whose four 3-pointers in the second half sparked the rout. The win kept Texas in the hunt for the Big 12 title. “I kind of feel like eventually it was all going to come together.”

Texas, not known as a very strong shooting team, hit 49 percent of its shots and missed only three of 28 free shows, pulling away from the Cyclones at the end of the game. The Big 12 title will come down to many key games in the next week and a half, with Iowa State, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri still in the hunt.

The Duke Blue Devils love late comebacks. A few weeks after erasing a 10-point deficit at Maryland in the final fifty-eight seconds, the Devils did it to Wake Forrest. Duke trailed by nine points with a little over five minutes left. They actually took a three-point lead with less than ten seconds left, but a Demon Deacon three pointer tied the game at eighty. The ball then ended up in the hands of Chris Duhon, the superstar freshman, who hit a runner as time expired for the win. Duhon, who has waited his turn behind other superstars like Shane Battier and Jason Williams has gained the confidence of his teammates.

“We’ve grown up a lot together,” Williams said. “In the beginning of the year he was in position, but he wouldn’t shoot the ball. Truthfully, at the beginning of the year I don’t know if I would have passed him the ball, but he has built some confidence and is going to be a heck of a basketball player.”

The win was big for the Blue Devils, who play Maryland and North Carolina this week in games that should determine the ACC champion.

Anthony Jacuzzi/Student Life Staff

The Washington University men’s basketball team earned an at-large bid to the Division III NCAA championship tournament and will host a first round game this Thursday despite falling 84-70 at the University of Chicago on Saturday.

With the win, Chicago (22-3) secured the University Athletic Association title and an automatic bid to the playoffs. The Bears (22-3) had to wait until an announcement on Sunday night to receive word that they would be awarded one of three at-large bids in order to continue on with their season.

WU will face Aurora University (18-7) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the WU Field House. This will be their first trip to the tournament since 1999 and their fourth in the last seven seasons.

“We’re excited to have this opportunity,” said WU Coach Mark Edwards. “We not only are happy to be in the tournament, but excited to prove something.”

The WU men feel like they have more to prove after losing the close contest in the windy city. At the start of the contest, the two teams were evenly matched, trading the lead back and forth throughout the first half. Chicago was a threat from the outside, shooting 8-for-11 from behind the arc. The Maroons passed the lucky touch around, with five of their players making threes.

WU fought back relying on outstanding play from senior Chris Alexander, who was 8-for-11 from the field for the first half. While Chicago focused on containing sophomore Dustin Tylka-who scored 35 points when WU beat Chicago in St. Louis this January-Alexander seemed to be the man left open. He took advantage of the opportunity by driving to the middle and driving home two slam dunks in the first half.

“It was an even match,” said Chicago Coach Mike McGrath of the first half. “I think when we came out on top is when we got Chris [Alexander] under control.”

The teams went to the locker room tied at 34. Alexander led the team with 19 points and two rebounds. Sophomore Jarriot Rook had six points and three rebounds. Derek Reich led the Maroons’ scoring with 11.

“The first half I thought we moved the ball well,” said Edwards. “We took advantage of their mistakes and got the ball inside to Rook.”

Two minutes into the second half, Chicago took over the game after Jon Poyer caught fire and nailed three buckets in a row from downtown.

“The turning point was when their guy hit three 3-pointers in my face,” said sophomore Chris Jeffries.

“It was fairly even until they hit those three 3’s in a row in the second half and it became a nine-point swing,” agreed Edwards. “We could just never get those back.”

WU kept fighting and managed to shrink the Maroon lead to three with 9:33 remaining in the game, but they could not regain the lead. Chicago continued to connect from three-point range. A trey from Reich with 1:30 left extended the Maroons’ lead to 78-67, putting the game out of reach.

“They shot 70 percent overall from three-point range,” said Edwards. “I thought we played good defense. We were covering up, playing hard. Sometimes that happens and they still make them. I can’t fault our players’ efforts.”

Jeffries thinks the Maroons’ home turf advantage came into play. He claims the darkness and different floor of the Henry Crown Field House to be among Chicago’s advantages.

“They really had a great deal on home court advantage,” said Jeffries. “They practice on their home court everyday. When they were [in St. Louis] they weren’t hitting them that way.”

It wasn’t until the final minutes that Chicago put some distance between themselves and the Bears, thanks in large part to a heap of points off of free throws. Of their 50 second-half points, Chicago got 20 from the charity stripe alone. Though the contest ended 84-70, it was a much closer battle than the score would indicate.

“The final score is not at all like the game,” said Edwards. “It was three, four and five point game either way. They earned it. Chicago beat us. There’s no doubt about it, and I have to face that reality, but it wasn’t a fourteen point win.”

After allowing Alexander 19 points in the first half, the Maroons held the Bears star forward to just four points in the second. Still, Alexander led the team with 23 points and two rebounds. Fellow senior Ryan Patton finished with 16 points, including a trio of threes. Tylka had 12 points and three rebounds, and Rook had 11 points and seven rebounds. Jeffries ended the game with six points and eight rebounds.

“It was played very well by both teams,” said Edwards. “It was a fun game to be associated with. I didn’t like the outcome obviously, but that’s just the way things go. I think our kids understood what they had to do to win. They did the best of their ability to try and do those things. I thought our players came to play a conference championship and we just came up short.”

Edwards is proud of the team’s effort in the game. “The one thing that I sincerely feel is that we have won two-thirds of our games this year with less effort than our loss today,” he said Saturday.

If both teams make it to the second half of the sectionals round in the tournament, there is a chance that they could face each other once again.

“We’ll look forward to it,” said Edwards. “We’ll probably look forward to it more than they will look forward to playing us.”

In order to do that, however, the Bears will first have to turn away visiting Aurora U. on Thursday. Also standing between a potential Bears vs. Maroons Round III are Elmhurst (21-4) and Illinois Wesleyan (19-8), a team the Bears fell to earlier this season.

The last time the Bears hosted a playoff game was in 1996, when they defeated the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. That season the Bears went as deep as the quarterfinals round of the tournament, the farthest they have gotten in any NCAA tourney.