Ball like a Mogul: Intramural basketball is no joke

By Connor Laubenstein /// Staff writer

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the Intramural Basketball Championship game took place in Pamplin Sports Center. The two teams, Backcourt Penetration and Moguls, confronted each other in an on-court duel. With a final score of 68-55, Moguls stole the show in the second half to win the title.

Both teams were the number one seed in their respective brackets while heading into the IM Championships. Their rankings proved accurate as they met in the finals, coming off of impressive regular seasons.

During the game, Carter Bagley (’16) scored first with a three-ball for BP. Moguls would stab back, however, with Yaniv Shier (’17) dishing out his own three-pointer off of a healthy assist.

After 6 p.m., the game stood still at 7-7, both teams playing physical, emotional basketball. On the ensuing possessions, Alex Heimbrodt (’15) of BP drilled two consecutive threes to push Moguls back temporarily.

Moguls held strong in the paint, however, with David “Douie” Louie (’16) coming down with some momentum shifting offensive rebounds and then finishing the job with his own points. With five minutes remaining in the 20:00 half, digits were still tight at 17-16 in favor of Moguls.

After a quick drive and lay-in by Evan Gray (’16), Moguls had to take a timeout to regain focus and make one last push before halftime. The timeout call proved effective as Abe Weill (’17) threw down a last second lay-in. Moguls left the half sporting a six-point edge at 27-21.

After a short break at halftime, Moguls came back, firing again, feeding the ball to Shier as he continued to hit big shot after big shot. Heimbrodt and the BP shooters would answer though, hitting a few daggers for three-pointers, bringing the deficit to just three at 35-32. John Trupin (’17) of BP would eventually hit his version of a big-man three as well.

When things were finally starting to turn around for BP, and they had chipped away at the lead, disaster struck. BP starter EJ Hand (’16) who had been playing with high tempo and physicality all game slipped on the court, went down hard and immediately was forced to leave the game.

Missing the speed of Hand, BP looked tired, and except for a few last-minute three-pointers from Heimbrodt, the game proved to be out of reach. Led in scoring significantly by Shiel, Moguls took the victory at 68-55.

Their prizes were burgundy T-shirts sporting the print “2014 Intramural Champions.”

The Moguls accepted these trophies with excitement and pride. The team looks to be a major force in the future of LC Intramural Basketball, and hope to maintain their title when they eventually defend it next fall.