E-Z Money beats Acacia 'A' for Div. I title

After almost seven weeks of group- and single-elimination, winner-take-all tournament play, the 2004 intramural basketball season has finally crowned its champions. \nIndependent team E-Z Money and fraternity team Acacia 'A' squared off in the men's Division I championship game Sunday at Assembly Hall.\nThe game was deadlocked for most of the contest, with the lead going back and forth as both teams played a fast-paced, high-scoring offense.\nThe halftime score was E-Z Money 34, Acacia 'A' 32, but in the second half, E-Z Money took charge and extended its lead to 13 points at the final buzzer, making the final score E-Z Money 67, Acacia 'A' 54.\n"Acacia played a pretty good game, but we came out and played pretty hard," E-Z Money team captain and junior Michael Fletcher said. "It was a good game." \nDespite the loss, Acacia team members respect and acknowledge that, in sports, even though both teams play hard and want the win, not everyone in a championship can be the winner, and the final was a well-played game regardless of the outcome.\n"It was a good game both ways," said Acacia team member junior Nathan Whalen. "(E-Z Money) played hard. We played hard. They played better than we did, and we couldn't pull it off, so they deserve it. We don't. They're going home winners, and we're going home losers."\nJason Ditsch, a 6-foot-3 senior from South Bend, Ind., led the E-Z Money offense with 21 points, and Bobby Allen, a 5-foot-8 senior from Indianapolis, led the Acacia attack with 16 points.\nMany have watched basketball games played inside Assembly Hall, but few have actually played on its hardwood floor.\nNot only did the intramural teams play for the win in IU's own version of the "Big Dance," but also for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play on the Hoosiers' home court inside Assembly Hall.\nSenior Ben Konowitz of E-Z Money described being on the court as amazing.\n"I can speak for this team because I have never played on this court, and it feels amazing, and to just take part of that tradition of IU basketball is amazing," he said.\nSenior Brendan Pickens and the other team members of E-Z Money would like to thank the girl's basketball team and coaching staff for allowing the team to practice on the court, which helped them bring home the victory Sunday night.\nThe Recreational Sports staff was pleased with how the 2004 season went and ended. \n"I think in general the season went great," Intramural Graduate Assistant Brad Logar said. "We had 435 teams. We met our team goal here. We had fewer ejections in the regular season than we did last year. It was a clean tournament and a good day here at Assembly -- it's pretty much everything we could ask for." \n-- Contact staff writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.