Tension ran high last Sunday in the Wesleyan Arena. Yellow and pink shirts could be spotted throughout the Freeman Athletic Center. After a series of games that began in November, it was finally time for the Intramural Basketball Championships. With the pressure on and eternal intramural glory on the line, Wesleyan’s non-varsity ballers brought their best dunks, freshest looks, and nastiest trash talking to the hardwood.
Intramural basketball is divided into three different leagues: A, B, and C. This year the A-league sported eight solid teams ,and the championship game featured the 6-0 Sleeping Elephant against the 4-2 Brew Crew.
In an emotional and physical game, the Sleeping Elephant defeated the Brew Crew 46-44. In the first half, the Brew Crew, which consists of seven football players, used its athleticism to outmuscle the Sleeping Elephant down low. Tyler Whitley ’08 hit three baskets from beyond the arc, as the Brew Crew matched its opponents in shots.
“We took our biggest lead midway through the first half, up like seven or so,” Whitley said. “But Sleeping Elephant came back with some clutch three-point shooting by Isaac Hunnewell [’06] and at half time we led by two. The score was in the 20s, but I can’t remember it exactly.”
In the second half, the Sleeping Elephant built a nine point lead, but strong drives to the hoop by Quincy Francis ’06 and Doug Collins ’07 cut the lead to two (43-41) with 30 seconds left.
The Brew Crew hit a three to go up by one, and the Sleeping Elephant received possession with about 18 seconds left. But the A-League game ended in controversy, according to Whitley and the Brew Crew.
“One of the Sleeping Elephant came down court and shot a three-pointer that went off the back rim. We got the rebound and expected to be fouled,” Whitley said. “A late whistle came in from the ref. He called a shooting foul and sent one of the Sleeping Elephant players to the free throw line for three shots. The foul really should not have been called, especially since our player that was called for the offense, Jophiel Phillips, a football coach and grad student, did not seem to touch him.”
The Brew Crew got the ball back and Tim O’Callaghan ’08, who drove down the court, made a lay up, and a foul was called. But after some discussion, the referees determined that the foul was called before the shot.
“Again the refs took the game away from us,” Whitley said. “We feel like we were robbed.”
O’Callaghan went to the line shooting the one-and-one, but missed, and the Sleeping Elephant got the rebound and held on for the win.
“It was a hard fought battle between two good teams,” said Dan Poniatowski ’08 of the Sleeping Elephants. “We are a high powered, run-and-gun style offensive team. They were able to slow down our transition game and use their size, which worked well for them. In the end, it just came down to making clutch plays, and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
Despite the controversy that arose in many of these games, the refs tried to maintain cool heads and impartial judgment on the court.
“One team will always complain about every call. It comes along with the territory and you get used to it after a while,” said referee “I’m not crazy, I’m just a little” Anwell Lanfranco ’08. “The biggest thing we have to do is be affirmative and constant in our calls. All of the teams are very competitive and everybody wants to win. So many games get very heated but the referees ensure that things do not get out of hand.”
Devoid of game ending controversy, the B-league Championship ended in exaltation and 40 oz. showers, as the 5-1 Pink Sox defeated 6-0 Fauver, who had defeated the Sox earlier in the season.
“Losing to a bunch of freshman definitely brought us back down to earth,” said Pink Sox general manager Frank Giantomasi ’07.
The Pink Sox built a 10-point lead midway through the first half, but frustration started to show after a hotly contested jump ball call.
“A bench-clearing brawl nearly ensued, but Fauver had no bench to clear,” Giantomasi said. “Only five of them remembered to go to the game.”
Despite having no bench for the game, Fauver fought back in the second half, led by captain Drew Dominguez ’09. But while attempting to take the lead in the second half, Dominguez was called for a charge, driving into Giantomasi under the basket.
“Things were looking rough for a while, and we really needed a big-time player to step up and take charge, and that’s what Frank did, literally,” said Pink Sox captain Jeff McLaren ’06. “The total disregard for his body showed in taking that charge inspired the whole Pink Sox bench”.
After the charge, the Pink Sox rebuilt their 10-point lead to win the B-league Championship. The Sox celebrated the win with an Olde English malt liquor shower while parading center Dave Ende ’06 around the court.
The C-league game featured the yellow-shirted 6-0 Vlad Squad against the 5-1 Great Danes. Boasting a huge bench featuring alumni and current cross-country and track team members, the Vlad Squad, who defeated a surprise Milk and Papayas team in the semi-finals two weeks ago, came out on top 47-37.
“The Vlad Squad was founded in 1995 by Pat Butler [’98], to give tribute to the men’s cross-country players and their meager basketball skills and pay respect to Vlade Divac’s international flair and Hollywood style,” said Bryan Bissell ’04.
The Vlad Squad was a cellar-dweller in the first few years, but since the turn of the millennium, it has won five of the last seven C-league Championships, in addition a B-League title in 2002.
Matt Moss, Max Piana, and Jeremy Solomon, Alumni from the class of 2005, were on hand to help the Vlad Squad on their quest to return to the top, and they contributed clutch shooting for the team.
After a close first half, the Vlad Squad’s famous shooters started to get hot. Nate Huddell ’07 hit a three from nearly half court and Vlad started to roll.
The Great Danes had mixed feelings after the game.
“Overall it was a great season, but the championship game against the Vlad Squad was an upsetting loss,” said captain Keera ‘K-Dawg’ Bhandari ’08. “We just had an off-day and the other team was just all-around bad sports about the whole thing.”
Known for its lively bench, the Vlad Squad has been known to heckle opponents from time to time. Referee Anwell Lanfranco threatened to call a technical foul on the bench during the game, so Vlad was forced to quiet down.
“They can cat-call all they want,” said Great Dane Vijay Chaudhuri ’07, “While we lost, we still had the best looking team on the court.”
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