This year’s VEISHEA 5-on-5 basketball tournament was much more interesting than you might think. It can compare to this year’s Final Four, very diverse.

One of the teams were regulars. Almost every night they’re all at the Lied, playing ball together. They dominate court one every night, all night.

Team Luckow was a group of really big guys, who had been playing together since they were underclassmen. Now as upperclassmen, they had great chemistry and functioned like a well-oiled machine.

The eventual second-place finishers, team Scherr, were also a little different. They were comprised of different types of players ranging from a couple regulars at the Lied, to ISU basketball player John Lamb and his younger — but much bigger brother — who will be attending North Dakota State next year to play basketball.

“Yeah he’s bigger than I am, and certainly better looking,” Lamb said, “but he’s going to Dakota State next year and should do great.”

The last team, Dogtown University, was the defending champion from last year’s tournament. Another oddly comprised team, this one included all ISU alumni. Included in that group were long-time intramural players Keith Kohler and Craig Weiss. Kohler got his master’s in 1993 in soil science, and Weiss graduated in 1987 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

“We’ve been playing intramurals all through college and kept playing since we graduated,” Kohler said. “A couple of guys from the athletic department set it up, so here we are.”

In the final, team Luckow defeated team Scherr 58-54. Things got chippy, and like in all intramurals, the refs were complained about, but that didn’t take away from how fun the tournament was in general.

“It was a really good time to get together and play hoops,” Lamb said. “I got to play with my brother and these other guys, and it was a really good time.”