Written by Caleb Chunn // Photo by Balazs Balassa
The team known as “Turn Me Up” made up of junior Daniel Clothier and sophomores D. Ray Brown and Preston Weaver won the Harding recreation program’s 3 vs. 3 basketball tournament on Jan 28.
With a record of three wins and one loss on the day, “Turn Me Up” took down “Jackboys” in the championship game. The score was 21 to 15 with the leading scorer being Weaver.
“We started kind of slow,” Weaver said. “We lost our first game and then pretty much after that every game we kept getting better and better and by the end, I think we played our best game.”
The trio gained their prize of T-shirts adorned with “HU Intramurals Champion,” as well as bragging rights on campus.
“There were a couple of teams I definitely wanted to beat, and the shirt was an added bonus,” Weaver said.
Brown agreed the win felt great.
“Yeah it feels really good,” Brown said, “It was a fun tournament to play in, but you always want to go into something like this. We’re all competitive, so to come out with a win like this, and like Preston said, some of the teams we beat made it even better.”
Every team saw a culmination of students from different backgrounds, social clubs and sports teams on campus, and each individual had a bit of a different role on their respective teams.
“It took time to figure it out,” Clothier said. “You know, we had to kind of figure out everybody’s role.”
In total, the tournament played host to 12 different teams of three who played at least three games for a shot at the championship matchup.
With plenty of spectators to cheer on the competing teams and officials to confirm and record the stats and records, the recreation program threw a tournament people will remember.
“I want to thank the recreation department for coming out on a Saturday,” Brown said. “Letting us do something like this was a lot of fun.”
It is yet to be confirmed whether or not there will be any more tournaments of this style in the future. For more information about the teams that competed, records and game scores, visit the Harding University Intramurals and Club Sports tab on the IMLeagues app.
“That was a great way to spend a Saturday in Searcy,” Clothier said.
