Although the basketball hasn’t always been hot at Hilton Coliseum this winter, intramural basketball contests at Lied Recreation Athletic Center have been heating things up.

Last Thursday, the intramural Hot Shot and Free Throw contests took place at the rec, and those with the hot hand showed off their skills.

“It’s a really good event,” said Landon Wolfe, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies and a graduate assistant in the intramural department. “Everyone that came out and did it had a pretty good time.”

There were 72 entries in the free-throw competition, up from 56 entries last year. Numbers were up for both the men’s and women’s division, but were down for the coed division.

“As you can see, our numbers were mostly up despite the horrible weather,” Wolfe said.

In its first year as an intramural event, the hotshot contest drew in 61 participants with 47 men and 14 women.

Jaci Schutte, freshman in apparel merchandising, design and production, acted as intramural supervisor for the event. She said all of the players were pretty relaxed and there were no problems during the events.

“Sometimes the contestants get a little intense and get mad at themselves when they don’t get their free throws,” Schutte said. “It’s pretty relaxed, though, and fun.”

The event consisted of two separate contests. In the free-throw contest, participants had to shoot 50 free throws and the player with the most baskets won.

Matthew Wolfe, graduate student in animal science, won the men’s division with 49 of 50 free throws. LeAnn Ketelsen, freshman in communication studies, won the women’s division by making 45 of her 50 free throws.

Ketelsen, who played basketball in high school and is on an intramural basketball team, participated in the contest because it allowed her to continue playing basketball in college.

“I thought it was a lot of fun,” Ketelsen said.

“I’m glad I was able to participate in it. I’m glad they have stuff like that for people who aren’t on the basketball team.”

Jeremy Schmitz, senior in health and human performance, and Sarah Huth, senior in landscape architecture, won the coed division. In this division, male and female contestants paired up and each took 50 shots. The total number the pair made out of 100 free throws was their score. Schmitz and Huth made 87 of 100 free throws.

In the hotshot contest, players were required to make four different shots in the following order: a free throw, a layup, a jump shot from either corner of the court and a 3-pointer. Participants could not move on to the next shot until they made the previous one. The player to complete this feat the fastest won the contest.

Daniel Moran, freshman in elementary education, won the men’s division by making all four shots in 13.94 seconds. Sara Snyder, senior in biochemistry, won the women’s division with a time of 21.32 seconds.

Moran, who played basketball in high school, said the event was “pretty laid-back.”

“I liked it,” Moran said. “It didn’t take too long, but it was fun while I did it.”