The Fall of a Champion

- Sean Amirault -
Staff Writer / Intramural Sports Program Assistant
seanamirault@gmail.com

The year long wait is over.  Tha O Gs can put the anguish of Larney Abdush-Shakur’s three point dagger behind them. I speak of course about the buzzer beater Shakur buried in last years semifinals victory for the Plunketteers.   Despite leading for almost the entire game Tha O Gs couldn’t hit the big shots (or free throws) to get bye the team full of diaper dandies.  The Plunketteers would go on to win the IM Championship; Tha O Gs would go home.

Tha O Gs new edition Craig Lott (23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists) proved to be a force that the ’07 Plunketteers could not cope with.  Tha O Gs jumped out to a 16-6 lead and never looked back.  In what was considered one of the marquee matchups of the year turned into a blowout before the half. The ’07 Plunketteers, missing Abdush-Shakur and Henderson “D-Saw” Darrisaw, proved to not only be too small to deal with Tha O Gs size, but lacked the go to scoring punch of last year. Without the key players from last years run; the Plunketteers never seemed to get their offense going (29% FG%, 4-22 from 3).

            This game was not only about the fall of a past champion, but also about the rise of a potential favorite. Tha O Gs have everything a big time team needs. With size and length (Johnta’ Tigner, Brooklyn Wilks) and a number of talented guards (Lott, Matt Middleton, Sam Ali, Antoine Mincy) this seems to be a team with few flaws. Of course the same was said last year until it came to crunch time and this talented team fell. Don’t get me wrong there are several gifted teams out there (Pi Kappa Phi, Mercer’s Finest), but right now it seems clear which team is ready to take that next step: Tha O Gs.

Top Performers:

Craig Lott – Shot 8-13, 4-7 from 3, 7 rebounds, 5 assist
Johnta’ Tigner – 8 points 14 rebounds
Antoine Mincy – 8 points 5 rebounds 3 assist off the bench