By Jeremy Moore/ se news editor
Photos by Zuleima Zeigler/The Collegian
The BTA Bulls defeated the Jammers 58-31 to win the SE Campus basketball tournament March 12.
The Jammers had to play with only four players after a team member had to go to work. As a result, the Jammers could not do anything successfully, including defending most of the BTA Bulls’ shots. The BTA Bulls found the open man on just about all of their possessions.
The Jammers tried to get hot from three-point range, but the BTA Bulls defended every shot attempt well.
“We just kept hitting shots and causing turnovers,” BTA Bulls team member Quincy Aldridge said. “The main things were shots and executing. Even if they would’ve had five players, we would have done the same thing.”
Despite the loss, Jammers team member Djeson Nzuga was proud of his team.
“If we had five, it would’ve been a whole different game,” he said. “We would have got more points, and it would have been neck and neck. With the drive my team showed, in my personal opinion, I think we would’ve took it.”
The BTA Bulls made it to the championship game after beating the Starshooters 38-33 in the first semifinal game. The Starshooters were forced to play the first half with only three players because their other two players were running late. Despite only playing with three, the Starshooters’ hot three-point shooting kept them down only two points going into the second half.
“We knew we couldn’t play man-to-man, so we just had to protect the paint,” Starshooters team member Nate Mambwiya said. “On offense, if we had open shots, we just took them.”
With about 10 minutes left in the second half, the Starshooters’ other two players showed up. The Starshooters continued to knock down threes, but they could not stop the Bulls from scoring inside.
The Jammers defeated Strap City 49-40 in the second semifinal game. The Jammers had to play the majority of the first half with four players after their fifth player ran late. They went into halftime down 22-15, but once they had all five players, the game changed. The Jammers hit almost all of their shots while Strap City struggled to score consistently.
Both the BTA Bulls and the Jammers were rewarded for making it to the championship game. The BTA Bulls received large duffle bags, and the Jammers received TCC gym bags.
