They say great moments come from great opportunities, and that is certainly what led the Daily Campus Newspaper (DC) to a 49-45 win over UConn Student Television (UCTV) in the second annual Pearlman Jam.
The writers had 16 players, a hype woman, two dedicated score/timekeepers and an emphatic coach.
After the blood, sweat and tears the program put into the Pearlman Cup in the fall, where they lost by the skin of their teeth (literally), the team came into this matchup with nothing but revenge on their minds.
After countless hours of training in the Rec to build chemistry, the long-awaited game commenced at 10 a.m. Sunday on one of the basketball courts in the Rec.
With their white uniforms and peppy starting lineup introductions, the writers were locked and loaded right off the bat.
With the starting lineup of Ryan Cotjanle, Jake Loomis, Tyler Lato, Hayden Cromer and Connor Sargeant hand-selected by the head coach, freshman Jake McCreven, the DC held as high as a 17-point lead in the first half. The score was 19-2, DC leading, just within the first 10 minutes of the game.
Cotjanle had a terrific game for the newspaper, staying feisty at the boards with his teammate, Lato, racking up points on the board for the paper.
In addition to the junior duo of Cotjanle and Lato, the senior sports editor Connor Sargeant had quite the first half, racking up 10 points on the board.
At the end of the first 20 minutes, DC was up 26-20, and even with a point deficit of only six points, the writers knew they had it in the bag.
“Definitely jumped out to an early lead I think we executed brilliantly to open up,” McCreven said about the first half. “As the half progressed, I think we got lazy down low and let them get good looks in the paint. We knew we had to clamp down in the paint if we wanted to win.”
However, the writers started to lose steam in the second half despite subbing players in and out, hockey-style.
With sophomore Vinnie Carbone at the helm of the TV station’s offense, UCTV made a steady effort to cut their scoring deficit.
The score went back and forth and even with a few issues with the clock (the timekeeper sincerely apologizes), the game ended down-to-the-wire, with both teams getting good looks and draining hots.
Nonetheless, like the new slogan from Nike, “You can’t win, so win,” the game would end up in the hands of the writers of the nearly 200-year-old newspaper; a win for the ages.
“I believe in this group, I think they believe in me and that’s all that really matters.” McCreven said to media postgame, “It doesn’t really matter who the opponent is when you believe […] It came back down 17, they made it a game, but at the end of the day I feel like this team just had that grit to them.”
With this new win under its belt, the DC is now hell-bent on winning the 13th annual Pearlman Cup this fall. The writers plan to ride off into the sunset as the victors here on out in these yearly traditions.