Beavers beat Ducks 65-62 in Civil War

Saturday I went to the Civil War basketball game. This season has been a major disappointment for the men, however all could be redeemed if they won the Civil War. I wasn't very excited about this game until I got there, saw the Ducks, and saw their fans in Gill. Some jerks in yellow tee-shirts each had a number of them and they sat in order. "5" "6" "1" "4" (Ducks beat Beavs in football by this score). First off, ya'll need a dash. Second... well, you walked out looking like idiots.

Let me set the scene. Ducks have top-teir talent (they just can't get their shit together). The Beavers meanwhile had decent talent until stars Lamar Hurd and Nick DeWitz went down to injuries. That's two seniors who started... gone. Plus Kyle Jeffers and Sasa Cuic were both battling injuries. Needless to say the Beavers were HUGE underdogs, and not many people gave them a chance. I didn't really either. I hoped for a win but I didn't expect it.

Well, the game was basically nip and tuck the entire way. Hotly contested, much like the women's Civil War. It was great being in the Beaver Dam and you could feel the electricity in the building. The Beavers were scrappy, outhustling and outsmarting the Ducks to make up the gap in raw talent.

Beavers are up 61-60... forty seconds left. Shot clock running down. Beavers need to score or else the Ducks will have the ball and the final shot to win the game. Chris Stephens penetrates into the paint and lay it up... no. The ball bounces in the paint. Three ducks and Sasa Cuic (a Beav) are fighting their way for position. All four stick their hands up to try and grab it or deflect it. The something crazy happens... the ball gets deflected way high up in the air... we're talking above the shot clock, then falls back down and through the net.

Crowd goes nuts. Absolutly nuts. I was freaking out, like just about every other person in the building (save 500 or so Duck fans). Longtime Beaver fans have said it was one of the biggest explosions of noise they have ever heard in Gill Coliseum (this includes the 80's when the Beavers were #1 for 8 straight weeks). I'll try and get a video of it up soon, it's pretty cool.

The Ducks are now down three and have one more shot to tie the game and send it into overtime. Airball. Game over. Students rush the court. I'm somewhere in that mob up top. You can see the final score in the background.

All in all a great game. I still enjoyed the women's version at Gill a little bit more, but this was still very, very awesome. Any day you beat the Ducks is a great day!

Tomorrow (probably later) I'll post about the Muskrats and the even more intense battle we found ourselves in Sunday night.