HPPE 2-on-2 BBall Tournament

Reggie Thompson
The Paw Print

The Human Performance and Physical Education (HPPE) club held their 2-on-2 Midnight Basketball tournament on November 2 as part of club fundraiser.  Held on the second floor of Plachy Hall, this  tournament was put together in order to raise money to send the members of HPPE club to  different national conferences, including the National American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).  
The event went from 9 to 11 p.m. To play, each two-person team had to pay $10.  The    winners of the men and women’s brackets were playing for the grand prize of a $20 gift card and a free buy in to the next tournament.
“For every tournament we hope to have a good turn out and are able to have both a men and women’s bracket,” tells club spokesperson Lindsey Grasmick.
The club considered the tournament to have a good turnout, with five competitive men’s teams and three women’s teams.
`The tournament consisted of three rounds and each game was lasted five minutes , with two 30 second time-outs and players were give the right to call their own fouls. The first was set up in a round robin format, where every team played each other once.  Following this, the teams were split according to their record from the first round.  The top teams were placed in a single elimination tournament.  In the end, it was William Bryant and Gabriel Perez, in the men’s bracket and Amber Lowther and Kelli Williams in the women’s bracket that were crowned victorious.
The idea was proposed spring semester twos ago by former club member Trisha Evenson.  “We were looking for a new fundraiser that people would enjoy and also wanted it to promote exercise and well-being, which is the mission statement of club,” reveals Grasmick.
HPPE club’s first tournament was held in the Rex Center after hours (hence the Midnight Basketball title).  Later revealed conflicts like the prohibition of dunking led to the move to Plachy.
The club will hold another tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Teams will be able to register at 8:30 p.m.  For this tournament, they hope to increase the number of participants and bring in even better prizes.  Also, a new development for this tournament will be the use both gyms if more teams participate.  The HPPE club cannot wait to see students there.