Last game of the night due to the early forfeit called canceling the nine o’clock game. The Heroes I’m told is looking for a win that hasn’t been lacking in the win column. Davidson is off to a quick start but looses his grip while making a move and falls face first to the hard wood. Treys for days is all over the boards and making it hard for The Heros to get anything inside which leads to the first called time out of the night. Santilli comes to the game in his boxers but with no shame is still able to put the ball in the hoop making a nice three to help his team to a halftime lead.  I’m not sure what the halftime speech was for The Heros but whatever it was it sparked a fire under their butt and got them to close the gap and tie the game at 37. After going zero for four Connor finally make a three and it is looking good for /the Hero’s to maybe get a win tonight but they have to close the deal. Just as I type this the wheels start to come off for the Hero’s as they can’t make a bucket, and the defense is slipping with time running out. Tim goes to the line and makes one out of two free throws to make the score 49 to 55 and they need quick scores now if they are going to come back. Connor blows two wide open layups and Santilli nails a three on the other end which cancels any chance of the Hero’s getting the win.

In the fourth and final game of the evening, we saw Team Ian Shang do battle against the Intramural Heroes. The Intramural Heroes took the early lead off the back of Tim Gallivan, who began the game scoring at will against an undermanned Ian Shang team that was missing some key players. From this point on, the IM Heroes wouldn’t ever really look back. Their size with Tim Gallivan, Chris Gallivan, Cedric White was a force and the big men were versatile - also shooting lights out from three point land. 

With 10 minutes left in the first half, Team Ian Shang took their first timeout, only down 11-17 at this point. Peter Chang was out doing what he has consistently done all year, shooting three balls and being the skilled guard for Team Ian Shang that he is, but his efforts just weren’t enough on this night. With 7 minutes left in the first half, Sean Guiry was injured, and for an already undermanned Ian Chang team, this was a key piece to lose. Team Chang was able to hit a buzzer beater at halftime thanks to the strong effort of Sean Connor, bringing the game to a 9 point game - 39-30 with the IM Heroes holding the lead.

The 2nd half promised a new beginning for team Ian Chang, but unfortunately for them, the IM Heroes came out with a bit of an onslaught. Cedric White was part facilitator, part scorer, part rebounder for the IM Heroes and helped control the pace of the game as they got out to a 13 point lead 5 minutes into the 2nd half, up 58–45. From here, the lead would only balloon higher, and with 8 minutes left in the game, it was up to 20 points, 72-52. Everyone on IM Heroes seemed to have it going on this night and Team Ian Chang just could not keep up. The game would end 81-54 Final, IM Heroes win.

In what was the most competitive game of the evening, we saw the Tune Squad face off against the Intramural Heroes in a barn burner. The IM Heroes got off to an early lead, led by Tim G, a do everything big man/wing player, who would finish the game with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. His diverse game allowed for the IM heroes to call on him in many a moment, whether he was hitting threes (finishing with 2 three pointers) or getting to the basket. However, Tune Squad got their bearings midway through the first half and matched IM Heroes’ energy, eventually getting out to a 15-14 lead as IM Heroes took their first timeout with 6 minutes left in the half.

The Tune Squad, potentially the largest and deepest roster in the league, going 10 deep on any given night, were up for the challenge from the IM Heroes. Early in the game, Emmanuel and Joel Nkounkou really made their presence felt as they pushed people around inside and created many 2nd chances while also cleaning up the defensive boards. Devon Gomes was a key piece throughout the game, hitting an early three as well as some clutch ones down the stretch, finishing with 3 of them on the night, all much needed. To close the first half, however, it was the play of Rich Disola that really got the Tune Squad going, as he did a bit of everything, and finished the first half with an emphatic block, punctuating the Tune Squad’s 26-22 lead going into the break.

In the 2nd half, these two heavyweights traded blows, with it being a one point game with 10 minutes left to go, 34-35, Tune Squad’s lead. However, the depth and leadership of Tune Squad was too much for the IM heroes to handle, and maybe most important to this effort was lead guard Mike Walsh. He ended up with 17 points, and especially in a 2nd half heater, showed his shotmaking and distribution skills as he energized Tune Squad in clutch time. Even with the shotmaking of Walsh, peppered in with a couple clutch threes from Devon Gomes and others, it was still a 43-39 game with 3 minutes to go. With 1 minute to go, Tune Squad was up 6 points, and after some intentional fouls by IM Heroes to stop the clock, they maintained this 6 point lead all the way through. Game finished 58-52 Final, win for Tune Squad. 

In Game 3 of this week’s editions Wednesday Night Hoops, we saw Leonard and the boys take on the Intramural Heroes. The game started quite competitively with the teams trading body blows. Leonard and his boys seemed ready to take this game by the horns, but eventually Intramurals’ heroics won out.

On defense, the heroes decided to switch things up and act like Medusa, turning every shot to stone. And on the offensive side, they were led by a well balanced attack. #6 Tim Gallivan owned the paint from the get go, gobbling up rebounds and seemingly finishing all the shots he took, mixing in post play with nimble wing play where he still always found a way to the rim with that big body of his. Ian MacLean, who like Tim, was also wearing number 6 (and clearly wanted to make things as hard as possible for the new stat keeper) put on a shooting clinic from the outside, finishing with 3 threes and helping contribute to the balanced scoring attack of the Heroes.

George Penniman led the way for “The Boys”, finishing with 15 points, and showing his range with 3 three pointers. Big Hoff played his part in the paint finishing with 8 rebounds, Guzzi was all over the place husting for rebounds, steals, and whatever he could get his hands on, and Kilian Bartels packed a scoring punch himself finishing with 11 points.

Ultimately, none of this was enough to slay the heroes, who were up 15, 59-44, with 5 minutes left and finished the game winning by 15, 61-46 final.