After last night’s newly-installed four-on-four coed basketball tournament at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center, the five-on-five men’s basketball tournament was held on the very same courts to continue the spirit of Veishea athletic tournaments.

With an expanded field of 20 teams — six more teams than the coed tournament’s 14 — a plethora of highly competitive basketball games ensued in a single-elimination format.

As was the case with the coed tournament, both teams were lethargic in the championship game. The red team, captained by Dustin Gray of the ISU athletic department, managed to overcome the factor of age by frequent substitutions in order to keep the players fresh.

“We might be one of the oldest, if not, the oldest team here,” Gray said of his squad. “We were fortunate enough, though, that we had nine players total and the other team had five.”

Gray’s team was composed of ISU faculty members, including Dr. Frank Montabon, who is a professor in logistics operations and management information systems.

The yellow team, captained by sophomore kinesiology major Thomas Hayes, gave Gray’s squad a run for its money, pressuring the team within the final minutes of the first half. Senior Nate Lincoln headed the team at point guard, taking part in many of his team’s scoring opportunities. Hayes gave his team a 22-21 lead with 15 seconds remaining in the first half, but frequent fouls and accurate free throws put the red team ahead, 28-23, to end the first half.

In the second half, Erik Crawford of the athletic department had the hot hand as he began knocking down an array of 3-point shots to put the red team out to a commanding lead.

“Quite frankly I was a little tired, so I just didn’t feel like driving it so I just took some threes,” said Crawford, who is working on attaining a master’s degree in kinesiology. “But they were going in, so I just kept shooting them.”

Despite valiant efforts by Hayes’ team for a comeback, Gray’s squad pulled too far out ahead to win, 55-33.

“The other team played really well and they were really strong in the first half,” Gray said. “The second half we decided to focus on defense, and we knew if we could pressure the ball then we could probably come out of here with a victory.”