By Drew Williams/sports editor

The NE intramural basketball tournament is down to three teams in the winners bracket.

Team Hernandez beat Relentless 60-47 in the third round of the bracket on Feb. 25 to improve to 3-0 after both teams entered the game undefeated.

Team Hernandez was led by forward and team captain T.J. Hernandez and point guard Theo Udume. Hernandez finished the game with 21 points, and Udume finished with 20 points.

“We should win the whole thing,” Udume said. “Relentless was probably going to be our biggest competition, so now that we’ve beat them, we should win.”

Team Finnell will take on Team Faculty in the first game of the day March 4, and the winner of that game will play Team Hernandez for a chance to face the winner of the losers bracket in the championship.

Team Faculty is made up of faculty members such as counselor Amos McCluney and professor Murray Fortner. Hernandez said he’s not worried about playing them if they do but is worried about the aftermath.

“I’m not scared of Amos. He’s my mentor. He taught me everything I know,” he said. “But Mr. Fortner, I might fail his class if we beat them.”

The first game of the losers bracket was between the Trojans and Trent Killers. The Trojans stayed alive by winning the game 41-37.

Point guard Willie Hubbard scored 27 of the team’s 41 points and was easily the best player on the court.

“I was just going fast, and the other team couldn’t keep up,” he said. “If we show up next week and we play good defense, we could win it all.”

The Trojans will face Team Adams since they beat Team Reyes 51-40 in the other game of the losers bracket. Team Adams was led by guard Hyson Zarroug, who scored 14 points and led the team in assists as well.

“They just weren’t very good at defending me,” he said. “Not trying to sound mean or anything, but they just weren’t.”

The games will continue March 4 as NE Campus will get one step closer to crowning a champion.