SU Men’s Intramural Basketball Team Place Second at Disney World

The selection of Roderick Ambrose and Benjamin Smith being named to the National Collegiate Intramural Championships All-American Team was a bittersweet occasion for the basketball squad.
After defeating five teams to get to the national championship game, the Southern University men’s intramural basketball team lost to Columbus State University in the title game 66-53.
The team almost did not make it to the tourney, due to a drained budget. After SUBR Chancellor Edward Jackson and other campus administrators provided the team with funds for the team to head east, the Jags provided the university with a second place trophy and another mark in national collegiate intramural sports.
In the men’s first game, the Jags defeated Eastern Michigan University 65-57. Four players had scored over ten points in the win, including Smith, who had 19.
After defeating the team from Ypsilanti, Mi., the Jags had to go against Georgia Southern University and managed to hold on to an 83-80 win. Smith once again dominated the Jags scoring with 20 points and Kwasi Lewis provided 17.
The next game, which featured the Jags against the University of Connecticut, provided SU with their third win of the day with a 71-41 victory.
Southern faced their first defeat of the tournament in their next game losing to Columbus State University 69-59.
Old Dominion University faced the Jags in their fifth game and the team from Norfolk, Va. had Southern trailing ODU 35-27 at halftime, but the boys from the bluff were able to come back and win 61-54.
After defeating ODU, Southern had to face West Virginia University in order to get to the finals.
After leading 35-32 at the half, Southern’s Lewis and Smith provided shots from beyond the arch that kept the Jags ahead and strong enough to win 65-62.
The Jags had to face CSU again in the finals and once again, Columbus State proved to be too much for them in their 66-53 loss. After trailing 32-24 at the half, Southern managed to lead 45-44, but that would be the last time they would be ahead.
CSU went ahead and when the buzzer sounded, the Jags were defeated by 13 points and left Orlando as the 2003 National Collegiate Intramural Championships runner-ups.