On Saturday December 10th, I attended the men’s varsity basketball game against Hastings College. The game was at home, in the Flanagan Center, at 4p.m. I sat in the student section, about 4 or 5 rows from the top of the bleachers. It was one of the only spots open. When I arrived, I sat down with Jake Buelt and as the game went on some of my JV basketball teammates sat behind me. This was a pretty big game for the team, especially since it was a home game. Hastings College is a pretty good team. I believe their record is at least .500. There were quite a number of people attending this game. Mostly, the fans were from Briar Cliff considering Hastings is about 4 hours away. It was a close game. Both teams going back and forth and every player was fighting for each basket. When I watch basketball games, it is usually different from how everyone else watches games. Being a basketball player myself, I tend to notice things that the normal fan doesn’t. For example, when someone doesn’t play help-side defense or when a play was run to perfection. Also, I know all of the players personally and I know what their strengths and weaknesses are. Whereas other fans, like Mark Petersen, tend to just enjoy yelling ridiculous things at the referees and opposing players. I enjoyed discussing different plays and players with my fellow JV teammates sitting with me. We congratulate a fellow teammate on the floor for making a good shot, grabbing a tough rebound, or hitting a big 3-point shot.
The Briar Cliff men’s basketball team was leading Hastings College by around 5 at halftime as both teams went into their locker rooms. During this halftime, Jake Buelt and I went down onto the court to join in a game of knock out with other students and kids. I, of course, got out on my first shot. It must have been a boy’s scout night because there were tons of them everywhere and they had their own game of knock-out on the other basket. The Boy Scouts also, had a foot race during one of the timeouts.
At the start of the second half, both teams were still going at it. No one team was giving each other an advantage. I don’t think the lead for either team got over about 6 or 7. As I said, both teams were going back and forth but Briar Cliff seemed to be taking control, holding the lead for a good amount of the second half. Yet, number 33 on Hastings College was keeping his team in it. He had almost half his team’s points it seemed like and was pretty much the only player doing anything. I thought our team had the win but Hastings pulled away at the end and won by around 7. This was one of the better basketball games I have watched, but it all came down to who wanted it most and I guess that team was not us.
