Basketball intramurals underway at SWRC

January 30, 2012 by Patrick Goggin 

Greeks, women’s, co-rec’s leagues offer enjoyable and competive experience

It may be only the second week of class, but stress has emerged for UNLV students.

Intramural sports are a great way to relieve that stress and help clear your mind, even if only for a night.

Five-on-5 basketball is one of the biggest intramurals at UNLV. It is played in both the fall and the spring along with seven-on-7 flag football and indoor soccer. UNLV in­tramurals requires a Rebelcard along with an imleagues.com account where schedules, player rosters and infor­mation are available on all sports offered.

There are three separate leagues offered for basket­ball: The men’s open and Greek divisions, women’s and co-rec leagues. Team names are as much a part of the experience as playing the games. There are currently 33 teams registered across all three leagues. The names can be very creative and it is all in good fun for the play­ers. Team names this year include Power Rangers, Beast team, Glory Days, Just Do it, and Lets Run.

The co-rec league teams consist of two guys, two girls and a fifth member, either male or female. The maxi­mum number of players on any roster is 15. Players are to wear athletic shorts without pockets or loops and non-marking athletic shoes. Jewelry is not allowed during the game for safety reasons, but players are allowed to wear head bands.

Standard rules apply for the most part as far as game play. There are still fouls and free throws with a referee present on the court at all times.

The games consist of two 20-minute halves which run continually until the last two minutes of the half. There is a four-minute halftime period and each team is granted three timeouts per game.

A difference between traditional rules is that fe­males are granted one extra point whenever they score. All free throws are worth one point regardless of who shots. There are also rules for players being ejected from games: if one player commits two technical fouls or a fla­grant foul, they are immediately asked to leave the facil­ity. This is to encourage fair play and keep it as safe as possible for all players.

Basketball begins on Jan. 30 and consists of a round-robin style play. There will also be an end of the season tournament beginning on on Feb. 21. All games are played at the SWRC on campus.