It all comes down to this. One shot, from 19 feet, 9 inches away, the money ball for two points. Make this and you win the championship, get bragging rights for the next year and most importantly, get an intramural T-shirt.

This was on the line for Demarco Turner, freshman in pre-business, as he calmly drained his final shot to total 18 points and become the eventual men’s champion of the 10th annual three-point shooting contest last Tuesday at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.

So what goes into being a good three point shooter? One part is a consistent shot.

“I just try to do the same thing every time,” said Nicholas Lincoln, senior in marketing who tied for second place with 17 points.

But what the shot looks like could be almost anything.

“I kind of hop with one foot,” said Megan Thompson, freshman in Spanish. “I’ve always done it. It’s a force of habit.”

Turner has a set form of his own.

“It’s like 1-2-3. Bend your legs, go to the chest and then shoot.”

For some there is a technique, while for others, it may just be luck.

“I just throw it up there,” said Anna Anderson, sophomore in interior design, who won the woman’s division with 13 points.

While throwing it up there works for her, for others, the crucial element that helps them to success is practice.

“Growing up my dad and I always shot in the driveway,” said LeAnn Ketelsen, sophomore in communication studies. “We would run around cones and do shooting drills.”

Ketelsen, the 2006 champion, fell short of her goal, finishing second in the women’s division. Lincoln, the second place finisher in the men’s division, also agreed about the importance of practice.

“I come to the gym three or four nights a week. Just being in the gym and shooting helps,” he said.

Turner, however feels he may have a more distinct advantage than just practicing consistently.

“I’m left handed. Left handed players have a shot advantage,” Turner said. “The way they shoot is just different. It’s not like right handed shooters; you got more touch on the ball.”

Whether or not a shooter benefits from being left handed is yet to be decided, but one thing is for sure: the best shooters seemed able to deal with or eliminate the pressure.

“There was no more pressure then in a high school game,” Lincoln said.

While Lincoln could handle the pressure, others couldn’t.

“I definitely felt some pressure because I really wanted to beat my roommate,” said Terry Tipp, sophomore in construction engineering who managed only two points.

The struggles of Tipp had a positive effect on his roommate Kyle Anderson, freshman in pre-business.

“[Tipp’s] performance helped take the pressure off of me,” said Anderson, who finished with seven points.

Turner has a simple answer for dealing with the pressure – have fun.

“There is no pressure when you are having fun,” Turner said.