Spartans win back-to-back titles with a 53-51 win

Photo by Matt Bishop
The Intramural basketball champion Spartans are shown at top from left to right: Matt Lohn, Alberto Celaya, Ty Ludvicek, Drew Meadors, and at bottom from left to right, David Gray and Jeff Brewer. The Spartans defeated Ice Cream 53-51 in the Intramural Championship 53-51 March 14. The Spartans will travel to the University of Texas-Arlington to represent OCCC in the NIRSA Regional Basketball Championships March 28 through 30.

By Matt Bishop, Staff Writer

The Spartans capped off another championship season by winning their second straight Intramural Basketball Championship March 14.

The Spartans defeated Ice Cream 53-51 to earn the title of back-to-back champions.

With 1:31 remaining, Spartan point guard Jeff Brewer hit a shot to give them a 49-44 lead that looked comfortable at the time.

But once again Ice Cream pulled close for another last minute thriller.

After putting the Spartans to the line, Ice Cream’s Jesse Hargrave and Tu Nguyen hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and the Spartan lead was cut to 3 with 2.7 seconds.

Nguyen stole an inbound pass and was fouled on a desperation 3-pointer with .8 seconds left.

Nguyen missed the first and made the second.

Down 53-51, Nguyen missed his last foul shot on purpose to give teammate Nik Grant a chance to tip in the rebound to tie.

The plan worked, until Grant’s tip in hit the side of the rim and bounced off.

Ice Cream players dropped to their knees in defeat and Spartan players pumped their fists as their celebration began.

Spartan forward Matt Lohn said it was a tough road to defend the title due to having few players.

“We were lucky [to win], We only had five guys all year,” Lohn said. “We have good chemistry on the court with each other. Although the teams beat up on us, we stayed focused and got our back-to-back title.”

Drew Meadors led the Spartans with 17 points, despite a sluggish first half.

The semi-final games were played before the championship, and the whole Spartan team looked fatigued in the early minutes of the championship.

Ice Cream jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in the early minutes.

Grant scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half for Ice Cream as he dominated inside the paint.

The Spartans did cut into the lead during the rest of the half, trailing only 21-18 at halftime.

The Spartans caught a second wind in the second half, running Ice Cream up and down the floor.

David Gray came off the bench hitting three 3-pointers for the Spartans.

Gray had not played with the Spartans but was picked up as a free agent to help in the doubleheader.

Alberto Celaya, who scored 3 points for the Spartans, credited Gray for the Spartans success.

“Gray stepped up for us hitting those threes,” Celaya said. “We were playing sloppy as a team and he helped build momentum.”

The Spartans’ Ty Ludvicek had free throw trouble during the game, but found light through the transition game. Ludvicek finished with 8 points.

The Spartans didn’t take their first lead until the 13:30 mark in the second half, 31-29.

Meadors said the Spartans implemented a plan to run Grant and, hopefully, fatigue him.

On defense, Meadors and forward Lohn collapsed on Grant, holding him to no field goals in the second half. Grant’s only baskets came from the foul line.

The two teams went back-and-forth during the rest of the game until the game was settled in the last second.

Lohn said it will be a challenge to win again in the fall, but said the Spartans would be back with a full team to “three-peat.”

Staff Writer Matt Bishop can be reached at SeniorWriter@occc.edu.

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