For four lucky teams, Wednesday night was one to remember. For four others, it was one they will hope to forget soon. All of Emory’s intramural basketball champions were crowned, with exciting games throughout the evening.

The women’s league championship was captured by Contempt of Court, a team composed primarily of third-year law students. Then an exciting matchup in B League saw Alpha Epsilon Pi Fogel pull out a comeback win over Hopkins 3rd. The night was capped off with the crowning of the undisputed king of Graduate League: Supreme Court. This band of mostly law school students haven’t lost a game of IM basketball at Emory, winning the Grad League three consecutive seasons and winning every 3-on-3 tournament they have entered. But among all this action, the A League championship was clearly the center of attention.

In a rematch of last season’s exciting semifinal matchup, the championship pitted S-Class against the defending champion AEPi. Riding a two-year winning streak into the finals, AEPi was brimming with confidence. Reports claim that freshman phenom Jonathan “Buckets” Bailey was already being fitted for his championship ring. But S-Class remained quiet and confident, using its time to prepare for the lethal AEPi offense. It was the extra effort on defense that made all the difference, as S-Class was able to force tough shots and turnovers en route to a 54-41 victory.

AEPi came out of the opening tip looking true to form, jumping ahead to an 8-0 lead with buckets from junior Josh “Long-Distance” Levin-Scherz and senior Levi Stewart. But the lead was short-lived and S-Class answered with transition buckets from its senior stars Randye Rand and Trey Mullins. After jumping ahead 27-21 with three minutes to play in the opening half, AEPi once again saw a lead evaporate as sophomore Marc Miller scored five points as part of a 7-0 S-Class run that resulted in a 28-27 halftime lead.

Coming out of the half, AEPi suffered a major setback when center Scott Azaroff recorded his fourth foul. With AEPi’s big man on the bench, Miller once again went to work. Despite chants from a raucous AEPi crowd, Miller appeared calm and collected, scoring 11 of his game-high 17 points in the second half. Azaroff’s absence also limited AEPi’s offensive possessions to one shot attempt, as the bigger S-Class squad was able to dominate the boards and balloon the lead to 17 points. AEPi was able to cut the lead to 10 points after a Levin-Scherz three-pointer, but it was too little too late as Rand and Co.’s persistent ball pressure forced turnovers and transition points that secured the victory.

Following the game Miller was crowned game MVP with his dominant performance in the paint, as he pulled down 12 rebounds to complement his 17 points. Before the game many thought Miller would be unable to attend, but the big man arrived just after tip-off and credited his performance to an unlikely source.

“Before anyone else, I have to thank Professor Bill Tayler for giving a managerial accounting exam that didn’t take me too long,” Miller said. “An exam like that could have easily made it so I got to the game in the second half, but it was fair and concise and allowed me to walk into the arena only one minute into the game.”

For Rand, the game marked the perfect ending to what had been a tumultuous season. After losing to AEPi during the regular season, Rand suffered night sweats and reportedly dropped 10 pounds in a week. “That was a dark time for me,” Rand said. But the victory brought not only a title but a sense of redemption. Taking a page out of Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner’s book, Rand removed his basketball sneakers a left them on the court, a sign that this would be his last basketball game.

Reflecting on his four years of intramural dominance, Rand was nostalgic.

“I have to thank the true core of this team, who started it back in our freshman year: Chike Brennen, Trey Mullins, Nate Kaplan, and McLean Crichton and myself,” he said.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, and an S-Class victory was imminent, one AEPi fan shouted, “You’re lucky Randye [Rand] is so good!”
And to be honest, so are we, because it is the players that make Emory Intramurals great. To all the players, referees, fans and readers, I want to say thank you. It’s been a fun ride.

Editor’s Note: Jake Wooten is a member of Phi Delta Theta.

— Contact Jake Wooten.