By Drew Williams/sports editor
Photos by Chris Cuthbertson/The Collegian
The NE spring basketball league started off with a bang Feb. 11 with Team Hernandez edging Team Hoeffner 51-50 in overtime.
After ending regulation tied at 48, NE student Theo Udume, who led Team Hernandez with 15 points, found teammate David Rosenau for the first bucket of overtime, a three-pointer that ended up being the game-winner.
Though Rosenau and Team Hernandez won the game, they were outhustled and outplayed most of the game by Team Hoeffner and point guard Chris Gracela, who scored 15 points. Team Hernandez benefited by the many traveling violations called against Team Hoeffner, many of which were questionable calls.
“I’m not a complainer, so we probably were traveling,” Gracela said. “Most of these guys haven’t played basketball in a while, so they probably just forgot a few rules.”
The second game of the day was between The Killers and Relentless, who almost had to forfeit the game for being late.
Relentless, who went on to win the game 56-26, was led by the best player of the day, Yasmen Pickens, who scored 28 points, two more points than the entire team of The Killers. He did most of his damage in the paint, gathering up offensive rebounds with ease.
“I was struggling with my shot a little bit, so I went inside and no one was boxing out, which made it a lot easier,” Pickens said.
Even though his team more than doubled the points scored by The Killers, Pickens wouldn’t say whether his team played well or if the other played poorly.
“To be honest, I know both of the teams could have played a lot better than they did,” he said. “They probably just had a little more of the jitters than we did.”
The final game was between Team Adams and Team Faculty, which Team Faculty won 42-36.
Team Faculty was led by NE counselor Amos McCluney, who played some but made his biggest impact coaching from the sideline. His low-post strategy was key in the final minute to take control of the game after being tied 35-35.
“We kept the game under control, we passed the ball, we made our layups and, most importantly, we made all of our free throws,” McCluney said.
Team Faculty, made up of McCluney and seven students, will have only faculty members on the team when the league continues Feb. 18.
