The fall season of intramural sports has come and gone, and now the IM basketball league is in full swing. Coming into the first game of the playoffs this past Saturday, all the IM teams looked to have fun and come out with a victory.
The battle of fraternities was fought between the team from Beta Theta Pi (Beta) and the team from Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). The game was extremely physical right from the start, with the many SAE fans spurring SAE’s tough game play. One such fan, screaming comments to the refs and players, couldn’t help yelling out, “Are you kidding me? That was a foul! Isolation, isolation, isolation! Come on!”
SAE’s fans gave their team the ability to lead at halftime 21-11. Their strong play continued into the second half, and they maintained at least a ten-point lead throughout the rest of the game. In the end, SAE was too much for Beta, who could not make a comeback at the end. The final score was 34-22 in favor of SAE.
Senior Nick Hershman, part of team Beta, remarked upon his team’s loss, “I really enjoy IM sports as a way for a lot of us to hang out and have a good time. I like the attitude Beta takes towards IM sports, and it’s always good to have a crowd at the games, even if we lose. Sure I’m disappointed that we lost. SAE has a lot of talented athletes, but there are plenty of sports still to come and we’re looking forward to those.”
The next game of the day, the Runnin’ Utes vs. The Ummah, was dominated by offense, three-pointers, and fast breaks. The Ummah came out early with a lead of 16-8, but the strong rebounding and scoring of number 45 on the Runnin’ Utes helped them to close the gap and to take the lead at halftime 22-20. Throughout the rest of the second half, both teams didn’t give up the fight. With seven minutes remaining in the game, the Utes made a 13-0 run, giving them a 43-30 lead. However, The Ummah didn’t give in, making a comeback with a series of clutch 3-pointers by number 22. At the end of the game it was the Runnin’ Utes who came out on top, winning 53-46. As the players began shuffling off the court, giving one another high fives, one player on the Runnin’ Utes asked his teammates, “Alright, so who’s ready for a beer?” Obviously, this player kept his priorities in order throughout the game.
The next game was between team ACF 1 and The Beers. It started off slowly, with neither team scoring much, and with both teams keeping the score close throughout the game. The score at halftime was 16-13 in favor of ACF 1. Though the game began slowly, it hardly ended that way. With ten minutes remaining, the Beers started to pull away with a 29-21 lead. The Beers, through enthusiasm and excitement, managed to maintain a lead, but with two minutes remaining, ACF 1 tied the game 30-30. As the fans grew more excited, the Beers trailed 34-32 with 49 seconds remaining, until a pivotal turnover tied the game up 34-34 with just 35 seconds left, sending them into overtime. With the support of their fans, however, ACF 1 was able to pull through the five-minute overtime, winning the game 39-37.
The future for B2 Basketball didn’t look very promising coming into the first game of the playoffs. The 0-4 B2 Basketball team was a little worried about their game against the tough Felons, but remained optimistic. Freshman Ryan Nelson confidently stated before the game, “IM basketball is fun, especially when you’re good… real good. I’m not worried.”
As B2 warmed up and stretched before the game, their determination was apparent to anyone watching. Freshmen Drew Wethington displayed his skill by finishing his team’s warm-ups with an overpowering slam dunk, undoubtedly intimidating the Felons, who were not able to control Wethington from stealing the show. He scored the team’s first 16 of 26 points, leading them to a comfortable halftime lead of 26-12.
The Felons did not give up and slowly lessened B2’s lead, shortening it to 39-29 with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately for the Felons, the overpowering rebounding by freshman Ryan “Fat” Hyslop and Travis Ferber, as well as Wethington’s continuing offensive dominance, allowed B2 to come away with the win, 44-38. Wethington finished his day with an impressive 27 points, giving his team their first victory of the season.
After the game, B2 was ecstatic about their win. Wethington commented, “Hey, it’s all about the fun.” Hyslop similarly noted, “We went out and got our first victory. It was fun. We are the Cinderella story of IM basketball!” When asked about the future of B2 basketball, Wethington quickly responded, “Yeah, victory was sweet. This was a huge win for us. Everything’s starting to click and everyone is starting to step up and find their roles on the team. It’s great. After this, we won’t settle for anything less than the championship!”
Beta Theta Pi vs. Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Saturday, Feb. 7 at St. Louis, MO
—————at the half—–final
Sigma Alpha Epsion—–21——–34
Beta Theta Pi———11——–22
The Runnin’ Utes vs. The Ummahs
Saturday, February 7at St. Louis, MO
—————at the half—–final
Runnin’ Utes———-22——-53
The Ummahs———-20——-46
ACF1 vs. The Beers
Saturday, Feb. 6 at St. Louis, MO
—————at the half—–final
ACF1————–16——–39
The Beers———–13——–37