Spartan player talks about his game
- Spartan captain Matt Lohn made quite an impact on his team’s success this season as Intramural Basketball Champion.
- The only Spartan loss came in the first week of the season against the Hustlas when Lohn was unable to play.
Photo by Matt Bishop
Ice Cream’s Nik Grant (middle) tips a missed free throw as the Spartans’ Matt Lohn (right) and Ty Ludvicek (front middle) defend it with .8 seconds left in the Intramural Championship game. The Spartans were ahead 53-51. The game-tying basket was missed as time ran out, and the Spartans won their second straight Intramural Championship.
By Matt Bishop, Staff Writer
Spartan captain Matt Lohn made quite an impact on his team’s success this season as Intramural Basketball Champion.
With the 6-foot-7 Lohn in the line-up, the Spartans maintained an undefeated record.
The only Spartan loss came in the first week of the season against the Hustlas when Lohn was unable to play. The Hustlas were undefeated in the regular season.
After leading the Spartans to the championship, Lohn will lead the Spartans to the University of Texas-Arlington for the NIRSA Regional Basketball Championships.
“We are really pumped about going,” Lohn said. “We were pretty crushed when we found out we weren’t going at first … it will be a lot of fun.”
Lohn said an opening in that tournament allowed OCCC’s intramural champion to fill in that spot.
Lohn said they will be playing against Division-I intramural schools such as Texas A&M, Houston and Division-I Men’s Basketball Tournament “Cinderella” Western Kentucky.
“It will be interesting playing [Western Kentucky’s] intramural team,” Lohn said.
He said it’s a good chance to see how well OCCC can match-up with bigger colleges and universities.
Lohn has plenty experience playing against Division-I athletes.
In high school and AAU basketball, Lohn said he played against University of Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, Oklahoma State’s Obi Muonelo and the University of Michigan’s Ekpe Udoh.
Lohn said he was named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association Large West All-State team in his senior year at Purcell High School in 2006.
He started playing basketball in the first grade and realized his athletic capabilities around seventh grade.
As an eighth grader, Lohn was 6-foot-1. He said he was bigger than everyone else, but it was his good ball control that put him at an advantage over the rest.
Lohn said he idolizes NBA superstar Kevin Garnett because of his inside/outside game. Lohn also is a Dallas Mavericks fan.
Lohn said he enjoys intramurals, but would like to test his skills at a higher level sometime in the future.
“I love the game, hanging out with the guys and the competition,” he said.
“Sometimes [intramurals] isn’t the same, I would like to give it another shot.”
Lohn is a secondary education major and would like to be a basketball coach in the future. But, for now, Lohn is focusing on the court and said he wants to keep the Spartan dynasty alive at OCCC.
“Hopefully I’ll be back next semester,” he said. “The Spartans will be back for sure and keep building that dynasty.”
The Spartan dynasty also includes Drew Meadors, Ty Ludvicek and Alberto Celaya, all of whom played for the first championship team.
Staff Writer Matt Bishop can be reached at SeniorWriter@occc.edu.
