The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: The Muhlenberg Website Junior center Peter Barnes crushed Hunter from above with two blocks and two huge dunks.

"Our Game Our House Our Court Your Loss" was the slogan for the 2008 Scotty Wood Tournament, perhaps next year the slogan should include "Our Tournament" as well. For the fourth time, and the first since 2005, the Muhlenberg Men and Women's Basketball Teams both won the Scotty Wood championships. Both Mule teams were impressive in their opening games of the year, and both beat a high-quality opponent en route to their 1st place finishes.

The roads to the title for the men and women's teams could not have been more different. In their opening game, the women breezed past a weak squad from St. Elizabeth, while the men's team struggled with a team from Hunter College. Then in the finals, the men's team dominated a strong team from Marymount, while the women won a hard fought contest against an impressive Williams Patterson squad.

Leading the way for the women's team was tournament MVP senior Lauren Boyle. In the first round game against St. Elizabeth, Boyle scored 14 points in only 17 minutes of action. The Mules were able to play 14 players and 12 players scored, including an impressive foursome of freshman: Alexandra Chili, Kimberly Mui, Kathleen Naddaff and Katy Rossino. The Mules opened up an early 12-2 lead, and stretched it to as many as 40, before they settled for a 73-36 victory.

Following the women's dominant victory, the men took the court for a dogfight with an undersized team from Hunter College. Against a smaller but scrappy squad, the Mules struggled early with the speed of the Hawks, as Hunter jumped out to an early 10-6 lead. But by halftime, the Mules took the lead by 2. After Hunter regained the lead for the final time in the early parts of the second half, the Mules finally got moving. Back-to-back momentous 3-pointers by junior Ryan Foster, who finished with a team-high 19 points, combined with a few defensive stops and two lay-ups by senior Tim Murray produced a 10-0 run by the Mules, which ended any hopes of a Hunter upset. From that point on, the Mules took advantage of their height inside, and the Mule big men dominated the paint. Junior Pete Barnes was dominant, scoring 18 points on 9-13 shooting, and added 14 rebounds. Junior Obi Nwizugo added 13 points, and freshman Spencer Liddic contributed 8 points and 9 rebounds in his first collegiate game. The Mules out rebounded the Hawks to the tune of a 54-30 advantage; but shot only 3-17 from behind the arc.

Continued...

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