Loyola’s intramural basketball season has tipped off bringing in both new and returning teams.
The majority of Loyola students are neither talented nor big enough to play intercollegiate basketball; however, there is a way for Loyola students to continue playing basketball competitively while in college: Loyola’s intramural basketball league. As legendary UCLA coach John Wooden said, “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
While the intramural basketball league is comprised of three divisions (men’s, women’s and co-rec), the only division currently active is the men’s division.
On Feb. 2, preseason favorite Hung Jury (1-0) defeated I May Be Wrong (0-1) 61-18.
“We got beat. They were much more talented than us,” said I May Be Wrong center and psychology freshman Timothy Leonard.
Led by Matthew Murphy’s 16 points and Teva Sempel’s 13 points, Hung Jury handled I May Be Wrong easily due to I May Be Wrong’s lack of teamwork.
“We are really undersized and have little team chemistry,” Leonard said.
Hung Jury’s main competition may come from Phi Psi (1-0), who defeated Dussen Matta (0-1) 47-36 on Feb. 1.
Led by former Loyola baseball player Eric Walsh, A’ 10, and his league-high 10 rebounds, Phi Psi’s guard-based lineup presented trouble for the bigger Dussen Matta squad.
“The strengths on the team are with the guards and shooting on the offensive end. We have one post player, John Mehr, and the rest are guards. We get up and down the court pretty well too,” Walsh said.
Walsh, who played point guard in the team’s first game, expressed concern that his team needs to box out in order to collect rebounds against bigger opponents.
“Our main weakness is probably our size, but it wasn’t a factor in this last game. We boxed out well and rebounded,” Walsh said.
When Hung Jury and Phi Psi square off, rebounding may very well determine the winner of the game, but Walsh is confident that his team can “take care of business.”
“I know there will be some close games especially come tournament time, but I think we got the right mix to win every game,” Walsh said.
Richard Dempsey can be reached at [email protected]
