SPORTS

Hawks are hopeless

Suns defeat All-Stars in championship

By Eric Gregory
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Staff Writer

After six weeks of competition, the intramural basketball season ended with a four-game marathon, the last game deciding the championship.

In the first scheduled game, the Suns, the odds-on favorite to win it all, went against the All-Stars. The Suns continued shooting the 3s which have become their trademark.

Even with Jonathan Little of the All-Stars matching the Suns with his own 3-pointers, the Suns were able to pull away.

With repeated drives to the basket and the All-Stars settling for 3s, the Suns punched their ticket to the finals with a 50-38 win.

"I couldn't do it without my team. I appreciate my teammates, Terry, Nick and Cory," said Quan Martin, who led the way for the Suns with 22 points.

With their loss, the All-Stars were sent to the loser's bracket to play the winner of the second game, Mavericks vs. DSGB.

Unlike the sharp shooting of the previous game, this game was marred with plenty of turnovers, missed shots and an all-round ugly game in the first half.

However, the pace picked up in the second half as the Mavericks came back from an early deficit to tie the game.

At 29-29 with seconds to go, DSGB had shot after shot for the win, but with repeated misses, the game seemed bound for overtime.

However, Bradley West of the DSGB was in the right place at the right time to grab a rebound and lay up the winning shot to end the game at 31-29.

In the third game, the All-Stars played DSGB to see who would play the Suns for the championship. DSGB was shut out for the first nine minutes of the game.

Whether the All-Stars played fantastic defense or the DSGB simply played awful offense is debatable. But, to put it simply, the All-Stars dominated the DSGB throughout the game.

It was 37-3 at halftime, and due to a mercy rule the game was called early in the second half, the score 45-5.

Dayne Styles, who led the All-Stars with 24, said to his critics, "People were saying I couldn't score, so I wanted to prove them wrong."

In the final game, the Suns played the All-Stars for the championship. The All-Stars gained an early lead and kept it until the end of the first half when the Suns pulled ahead, still firing their 3s.

Throughout the game, no team was able to pull away from the other, setting the table for a dramatic finish. With the score 31-33, the All-Stars hit a 3 pointer with 40 seconds left to take the lead, 34-33.

The Suns fought for a basket and pulled down a rebound with seconds remaining.

Cory Pitts of the Suns fired off a shot, and it dropped in as the buzzer went off, giving the Suns the win 35-34 in dramatic fashion.

Even with disappointment evident, the All-Stars congratulated the Suns on their effort and praised the game. "Great game," said Styles.

Pitts was happy with the championship win. "Finally got a ring and it feels great. We were undefeated, untouched," he said.

After the game, the Suns were given T-shirts to commemorate the win.