On Sunday November 23, 1997 the Alumni and Undergrads gathered in the NJIT Gym for game three of Sig Series 1997-'98 - Basketball. The Alumni came into the game leading the Series 2 - 0 after stunning the Undergrads in an amazing softball come back followed by a narrow victory in the Mud Bowl II football game (see Fall 1997 Newsletter for highlights). Alumni spirits were high but the Undergrads, winners of the last three Sig Series Basketball games, were heavy favorites.
As the game opened the Alumni scored first after confused U-Grad Brian Jones passed the ball to recent Alumni Dave Barker who proceeded to give the Alumni their first two points. Both sides fought hard, but the Alumni, helped by three pointers from Rasesh 'Russ' Shah and Gary Siatta, lead 17 - 12 at the end of the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Undergrads closed the gap to just 2 points….but then the Alumni strung together a 9 point run. Just as it was looking like the old guys might run away with the game, the Undergrads, lead by Jeff Brill and Bryan Jones, came back with six unanswered points to close the quarter trailing 26 to 31. At the half, the Alumni, while gasping for breath, were starting to believe that they could actually win the game if they could keep it at their pace - slow that is.
The Alumni filibustered as long as they could but eventually the second half began. The Undergrads attempted to battle back in the third quarter supported by Jim Zunnio who was responsible for six straight points. The Alumni stayed strong, the U-Grads were unable to make up any ground, and the third quarter ended 46 - 38 in favor of the Alumni.
In the fourth quarter, with things looking desperate, the Undergraduates went to their secret weapon, Bill "Nothin' but Net" Stimmel. The game plan consisting of "feed it to Stimmel for the three pointer" sounded weak to the Alumni on the side lines but no sooner were the words spoken than the ball was passed to Stimmel and swish - 3 points. For a moment it looked as if the Undergraduates might mount a come back but tenacious defenders Dave Piell and Dennis Najar hampered them at every turn. As Ski and Boli arrived with 3 seconds remaining on the clock, the Alumni rallied with a cry of "Win one for really old guys" and it was clear that the momentum was finally swayed to their side.
Final Score - Alumni 61, Undergrads 52.
MVP of the game goes out to Russ with 30 of the Alumni points, including 5 - 3 pointers. The Undergrads high scorer was Jeff Brill with 17 points.
Game 4 of the Sig Series is traditionally chosen by the side that is trailing the series after the first three games. The Undergraduates, trailing 3 - 0, will more than likely chose football - again. Having read Jason 'Skully' Fitzgerald's article explaining how the Undergrads took a dive in the softball game, it is obvious that the Undergrads have also thrown the last football game which "is as easy a win as basketball" in a massive effort to inflate the Alumni with overconfidence. Despite the undergraduate ploy the Alumni have high hopes of winning their third football game in 11 months and sweeping the Sig Series 4-0.