Intramural team wins regional
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With win, Team Elite will travel to Vanderbilt for national tournament
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Team Elite reigned supreme in the conclusion of this past weekend’s 2010 NCCS West Regional Basketball Tournament.
The squad comprised of players from UNLV (Team Elite) bested 16 teams from Nevada, California and Arizona to win their bid into the National tournament which will be held at Vanderbilt University April 9-11.
“All we did is have heart and hustle. Jacoby Reed, captain of Team Elite, said. “That’s all you need.”
Team Elite beat The University of Arizona Roman Helmets 50-48 in the championship game.
Both teams battled back and forth with numerous lead changes.
With two minutes left, the Roman Helmets led 46-44. Team Elite’s Ben Chambliss hit a free-throw to cut the margin to one point.
On the ensuing play Team Elite forced a turnover and Chambliss ended the fast break with a slam dunk, giving his team a one point lead with 1:24 left in the game.
But Arizona countered scoring off a running jumper.
Team Elite then in-bounded the ball to Reed. He was immediately fouled and was allotted free-throws since they were in the bonus. Reed calmly sank both free throws.
In the final seconds of the game, Team Elite was able to play solid defense and forced Mat Rice of Arizona to shoot a rushed three-point shot that fell short.
“We all got started on this court.” Reed said. “We all knew we are trying to get somewhere. That’s at the top,”
In the semifinals, Team Elite beat a fighting CSUN team 65-57 to advance to the tournament championship.
On the women’s side, UNLV almost had two representatives sent to the national tournament.
UNLV players from the team EnvyHI fell short 55-42 against Loyala Marymount in the women’s championship game.
EnvyHI’s Melissa Ching scored first, but LMU then went on an offensive frenzy to gain the lead 10-5.
They continued with their momentum and went on an 8-0 run before EnvyHi’s Anjelica Ostrea stopped the run with a three-point shot.
Free-throws helped EnvyHI get back in the game as they went in to halftime down only seven points, 27-20.
In the second half, EnvyHI’s Vaimalama Tito led the offensive attack scoring 12 of her game-high 13 points.
EnvyHI had chances to take the lead but three consecutive offensive fouls called against EnvyHI took away their momentum.
The UNLV girls managed to keep it close and LMU led 44-40 with five minutes to play, but an 8-0 run by LMU put the game out of reach.
“We felt like we were mentally and physically prepared to play, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out for us today” Ostrea said.
Also included in the weekend’s festivities was a slam-dunk competition and three-point contest held on Saturday. Team Elite dominated these events as well.
Chambliss came out victorious with his backpack and hoodie dunk. He wore his backpack and hoodie during his attempt where a teammate threw the ball off the backboard before putting it down with an emphatic windmill dunk.
Reed won the three-point contest hitting 11 of the 15 shots from three-point range.
Intramural Director Steven Thiele said, “The tournament overall was a success. We had a great staff, a great volunteer staff and a great officiating staff. Everything came together very well.”
