The Buzz Ballers defeated the Big Booty Brownies 71-55 on Sunday, Feb. 26, in the second game of the Texas A&M men’s recreational basketball season.
The win on Court 2 at the Student Recreation Center puts the Buzz Ballers at 1-1 for the season with one more game before playoffs.
At the half, the Buzz Ballers led 34-21, but by the 3:30 mark of the second half, the teams invoked the rec league mercy rule and decided to freeze the score. The final frozen score was 71-35; the unfrozen final score was 79-41, with both teams scoring more points after the freeze.
Coming off of a loss to The Hoopsters, the Buzz Ballers needed a victory, and before the game, many of the players said their hopes were high. They were expecting a win and were looking forward to going out and playing hard. Another goal was to play with the same intensity as if the Buzz Ballers were playing in a competitive league, management information systems freshman Ethan Walker said.
Finance freshman David Lock said the team just wanted to get the win.
“I just want to get a win, go out there and play some defense and also go and assist my team,” Lock said.
Business freshman Isaac Cryer said he needed the win to stay in the league.
“If I lose this game, I’m going to hang up the jersey,” Cryer said.
At halftime, Cryer said the players wanted to keep up the quick pace, keep attacking and stay away from taking bad shots. Business senior Dylan Soussan finished with an impressive stat line of 27 points, 8 assists, 12 rebounds and 9 steals.
“[I] keep driving and I need to make my shots,” Soussan said.
Cryer finished with 24 points, 5 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block, and said he was very happy with his performance.
With one game before playoffs, Soussan said there is still work to be done.
“[We will] make sure to practice hard and get here early to practice,” Soussan said.
The Buzz Ballers will play Below the Rim on Friday, March 3, at 7:45 p.m. at the Student Rec Center. Find the complete rec league basketball schedule at IMLeagues.com.
Noah Vagis is a history junior and contributed this article from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.