Sunday, February 8, 2015

Week 4: Team 4 Pulls Away Late For 68-49 Win

                                             1              2              F
Team MB                             24           25           49           0-4
Team 4                                 27           41           68           4-0

We had an 8:30 tip against league commish MB Johnson and John Clancy’s team as we looked to get to 4-0. Playing against the league commish is similar to playing against a prominent figure such as Barack Obama, but we didn’t show those jitters to start the game.

We came out flying out of the gate, scoring on fastbreak buckets and taking a big double-digit lead early. However, our opponents made a comeback with a stout zone, and we weren’t crashing the glass as effectively as usual.

They cut the deficit to one at 25-24 with a minute left before Ben Asper scored one of the most bizarre buckets you’ll ever see. Ben was putting pressure on them, and their inbounds pass hit their own net, wrapping the net around the rim (like what happens on a pure swish). Additionally, Ben ended up with the ball and put up a 10-footer as time expired. The ball rattled around the rim and somehow went in to give us a 27-24 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Brian Ramsland channeled his inner Steph Curry and finished the game with five 3-pointers, not to mention a couple of nice mid-range jumpers. While it took a while to finally pull away, we did so in the final seven minutes as we got back to what we do best, getting defensive rebounds and running like madmen down the court! This may sound sick, but I get energy from running the break with reckless abandon with my partner in crime, Eric Freckman!  Nothing fires me up more than taking off like the pidgeon-toed freak I am and dishing to a teammate or scoring a layup!

It’s so much fun to play on this team. While winning is fun and 4-0 is a nice record to have at this juncture of the season, I know I’m surrounded by teammates who love to share the ball, encourage me on the court, and play their hearts out.

The devotional for the week was titled “To Really Live” and we focused in on Paul’s attitude in Philippians 1:19-21. Despite being in prison, Paul saw his situation as a win-win. If he were to continue living, he’d be doing so for Christ.  If his life was taken for Christ’s sake, he’d be with God in heaven in a much better situation. What a great reminder to us because we are often times caught up in our circumstances and lack this bigger perspective. I pray that this team lives out this perspective more and more with each week!

It was great to have a discussion about how we are demonstrating in our everyday lives that Christ is exalted above all else. We saw both ends of the spectrum and  that it’s hard to exalt Christ when things are tough as well as when things are going really well.


Week 5 is a 9:30 AM tip with Jon Lindstrom’s team. We will have Vince back to make our team seven strong, and Justin Perlut is still out with a lower body injury. With some beefy bodies and sharpshooters, this will be another great test!

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