Basketball season ends with title games

March Madness is upon us, and although the IU men’s and women’s basketball teams won’t be finishing their seasons at Assembly Hall, several other IU students saw their amateur careers come to an end there this past Sunday and Monday evenings.\nThe intramural basketball team played its championship games in Assembly Hall earlier this week. The men’s division II and III, women’s division II and co-ed division II championships were Sunday, and the men’s, women’s and co-ed division I finals were Monday.\nFourteen teams stepped on the floor usually reserved for the varsity basketball teams. These teams played the several-weeks-long intramural season before advancing to the final round. \n“The season was a lot of fun,” said junior John Guidry, who played for Christian Student Fellowship, the division I co-ed champions.\nSunday began with the men’s division III game, which was won by the Green Wave. The co-ed division II game was played afterward, between the Blue Ballers and We’ve Seen the Light. The score remained within a point or two the entire game until We’ve Seen the Light eventually pulled away victorious, 39-35.\nThe women’s division II game was next, where team Swisher Sweets took on the Region Rats. The game remained close the entire first half, with several lead changes. But the Region Rats began pulling away in the second half, leading by as many as 12 points. Despite an attempted comeback by the Sweets, the Rats went on to win 32-22. \nAlthough her team lost, Swisher Sweet player and IU junior Emily Williams found the opportunity to play in Assembly Hall to be one she would never forget.\n“It was really cool. It’s huge from down on the court,” she said. “It would have been cooler if there were more people and we could get the full effect, but it was really neat.”\nIn Sunday’s games, the men’s divsion II teams squared off for a shot at their title. \nFormer IU basketball player Kyle Hornsby was included on the roster of the team Rule XXIX, which faced The Fighting Scalpals. The teams were close from tip-off, but The Fighting Scalpals went on a run and brought their lead to as much as six before Rule XXIX caught up and went into the half down by two. \nMost of the second half was back and forth between the two teams, but in the last three minutes of regulation time Rule XXIX hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, creating a significant lead that The Fighting Scalpals were never able to close. Rule XXIX went on to win, 51-43.\nMonday night began with the division I co-ed game, where the Christian Student Fellowship and the team Cumin-bac-atcha!!! faced off. The Christian Student Fellowship maintained a lead most of the game, leading by 18 at the half. Cumin-bac-atcha!!! got within eight points but eventually lost, 50-66.\nNext up was the women’s division I game, where Club Soccer Ladies and the Effen All-Stars competed. The game started off with slow scoring, remaining tied at 6 for several minutes. \nThe Club Soccer Ladies got a lead off free throws and a 3-point shot before receiving a technical foul for improper check-in. The Ladies didn’t let it phase them, as they went on to out-score the Effen All-Stars 24-1 in the second half, winning by a score of 37-10.\nThe final game of the championship series was the men’s division I game. \nThe Pi Kappa B team played against UMAD. The two teams went back in forth in scoring and as the game progressed, the fouls became more frequent. \nThe Pi Kappa team began to turn the ball over, which precipitated their demise. UMAD maintained a double digit lead for most of the second half, but Pi Kappa started to play catch-up in the last three minutes. Despite the late rally, UMAD eventually beat Pi Kappa to take the division I title, 56-51.