By Josh Redden
Reporter
March 24, 2006
The final score was 53-40, leaving Emmanuel’s team the 2006 Intramural Basketball Champions and the Bombers, a team of mainly upper-class Milligan students, the runners-up.
Tip-off for the game was at a late 10:15 p.m. on March 16, following the intramural semifinals earlier that night.
Emmanuel won the tip and started out the game by hitting a 3-pointer, getting a steal and making a layup to put 5-0 on the scoreboard.
The Bombers inched their way back into the game slowly with senior Randall Moore’s 3-pointer from the baseline and senior Brian Rossen’s drive through the 2-3 defensive zone used the entire game by the quick Emmanuel team.
Emmanuel owned the lead most of the game with the Bombers trailing by two or three points.
The Bombers' only lead of the game came with eight minutes left in the first half. Moore hit a 3-pointer that made the score 18-16 for the Bombers.
The Bombers lost their lead when starting guard Ryan Witten, Elizabethton High School’s football coach, had to come out of the game as a result of being poked in the eye with less than four minutes left in the first half.
The first half ended with Emmanuel leading 29-26.
The second half started and finished at the tempo of the first half, with players from both teams looking more and more worn down.
“Emmanuel’s ball movement gave them the edge to keep them in the lead in the second half,” said basketball fan sophomore Eric Rolston.
Every time Emmanuel would start to break away with a comfortable lead, the Bombers would cut the lead back within two points.
With eight minutes remaining, Emmanuel had a six-point lead but Moore had two break-away layups, forcing Emmanuel to call a timeout. The score was 40-38, with Emmanuel in the lead.
“It's getting exciting,” Moore said during the timeout. “It's going to be a good finish,”
Unfortunately for the Bombers, Moore’s enthusiasm and intensity wore off in the final minutes of the game where the Bombers had to resort to fouling, which resulted in Emmanuel pulling away with the final score 53-40.
“It was a lot of fun,” Emmanuel's Nathan Swain said. “We try to keep it clean and fun and play in the image of Christ.”