Cougar Nation!

Two days in New York, two similar games and two very different outcomes. Henry Mailings once said, "You imagine a situation to unfold and the odds are against everything you thought.” This statement could not be more accurate about the Cougars trip to New York.

Friday night, we walked into Roberts Wesleyan (R.W.) ready for a game, or so it seemed. The first half flew by with everyone contributing to the team. Robbie Taylor and Brandon Short were shooting extremely well and we needed every bucket. We went into the half up ten points with work still to be done. Then, the second half began. Whatever happened in the 6 minutes between meeting with coaches in the locker room at halftime and the start of the second half apparently affected our ability to catch, pass, dribble, or control the basketball. It was like everyone on the team caught a case of the butterfingers! Right and left, we were turning the ball over. R.W. came out jumping, literally! R.W.’s post had five dunks in the second half alone. Slowly but surely, Roberts was chipping away at our lead. With under a minute to play we were playing catch up. We were down and the path to get back into the game was narrow, very narrow. With under 10 seconds to play, the Cougars were down five points. BShort had a huge layup and he was fouled to cut their lead to two. On the inbounds play BShort picked off a pass and was able to get the ball to Travis Brown. TB was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws. TB was money from the line! He hit both throws and the game went into overtime. From the tip of overtime until the buzzer sounded, the game did not go the Cougars’ way, though. We lost 86-81.

And then there was Saturday. Take everything I just described about the Roberts game and flip it! That is what happened Saturday!

Houghton is a very good team. They play very well even though their appearance is quiet deceiving. The Highlanders only have one player over 6’5” and the majority of their team is around 6’1.” They came out shooting and hit three treys to open up the game. Fortunately, Rob Taylor was feeling the heat and matched each bucket. We went into the half down five. Just like I said, Saturday everything was opposite to Friday. We came out hot the second half and the Highlanders kept our pace, but they could not handle the ball very well. We were able to jump ahead eight points with under 10 minutes to play, but Houghton was not going down without a fight. With under three minutes to go, we were still up six points and with under a minute we were up three points. Then, just like Friday only this time it was our opponent, Houghton, who tied the game with less than ten second to play. Bshort had a great shot at the buzzer, but it bounced long. Overtime for the second time in two nights! Five more minutes of basketball was exactly what the Cougars needed to get the job done! We made the easy play, hit our free throws, and controlled the ball very well. We came out victorious 79-69 with a very important win!

I have to give a HUGE shout-out to the MVNU Women’s Basketball team. The Lady Cougars were our traveling cheering section! In both overtimes, they were up on their feet making sure we could hear them. It was nice to be seven hours away from Mount Vernon and still have a student section. Thanks Ladies!

Lets Go Inside The Huddle:

Name: Adam Grimm (above with Brandon Short)

Number: 33

Year: Junior

Major: Sports Management

Nickname: Grimm, Grimm-Bo, The Grimm Reaper

Hometown: Titusville, FL

Favorite Place to Eat: Dave’s Hotdog Shop and Louise’s BBQ. According to Grimm, Louise’s has the best Sweet Tea in all of Bernard County.

Favorite College Activity: Call of Duty, Road Trips and Dancing to the song "Party in the U.S.A.”

Relationship Status: While at this present moment Grimm is single, he would like Cougar Nation to know he is not looking for a serious relationship. Grimm considers himself laid back and is always looking for an enjoyable date. The best way to contact Grimm would be Facebook, randomly introducing yourself to him in the MVNU Dinning Commons, or contacting him through the MVNU phone directory at ext. 7361, he thinks.

One Quick Fact: Grimm first dunked a basketball in the 7th grade in between recess and science. Only 6 people saw him actually dunk for the first time. When Grimm’s science teacher heard the rumor, she took the whole class outside for Grimm to prove his new found ability. By the end of the day Grimm was pulled out of class four different times to prove he could dunk a basketball.

Peace!

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