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Show Sports WSU basketball gets under way FRIDAY OCTOBER 28 2011 'Cats take part in Purple and White Game By Nathan Davis sports editor I The Signpost PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Scott Bamforth drives to the hoop during a game against the University of Northern Colorado last season. WSU officially kicked off their season on Wednesday at the annual Purple and White Game. Nathan's Notations Nathan Davis • The Signpost columnist Remembering my best sporting memory After reading fellow Signpost columnist Code Holmes' column about her greatest sporting moment, I started to think about what mine would be. I thought for a while, thinking of things I've done as an athlete, I thought about making it to the final game in a YMCA basketball tournament, or making a big catch while playing baseball, but neither of those were it. My greatest sporting moment came on a makeshift soccer field in the Philippines. Every Monday morning, during the first few months of my time in the Philippines, a group would gather on an improvised field to play a pickup game of soccer. The leader of this group was Flemming Hansen. Flemming is a big Dane, who was in his upper 50s at the time. He had been living in the country due to a job, and he lived for soccer. Often he would play so hard on Monday that he would be sore and stiff for the rest of the week. While they were only pickup games between friends, the matches would become highly competitive, and sometimes intense. Normally I played at my normal position in soccer, as a central defender. I've been playing soccer for a while and I am a fairly adept defender, but after one game, I jokingly complained to everyone that all I really wanted to do was score goals. The next week, when we showed up to See Notations page 8 On Wednesday night, fans got their first look at the 2011 Weber State University men's and women's basketball teams at the annual Purple and White Game. The night got under way with introductions for both teams, with the loudest cheers of the night coming for point guard Damian Lillard, who was back on the Dee Events Center court for the first time in nearly a year following a season-ending injury last year. Lillard said it was good to get back on the court and that physically, he is feeling great this year. "I've been waiting to get back out there and play," Lillard said. "I've been waiting for it and it felt great." The men's scrimmage started out slowly, with neither team scoring in the first minute and a half. Darin Mahoney scored the first points for the White team on a turnaround jumper, but the first highlight of big highlights of the game came from Purple. Shai Fields took the ball on the wing and cut inside, and hit a nice reverse layup to excite the crowd. The White team dominated much of the play in the first 10-minute period of the scrimmage, jumping out to a 12-4 lead thanks to five quick points from Scott Bamforth. With less than a minute left in the first half of the scrimmage, Bamforth once again gave fans something to cheer about. He brought the ball past midcourt and did a crossover, then blew past his defender and hit a layup to extend White's lead to 25 14. - In the second half, the teams were changed up and the score started over at zero. The first points of the second period came thanks to a 3-pointer by Bamforth, which was followed up by a three by Fields to give White a 6-0 lead. Bamforth had a strong showing in the scrimmage, but attributed much of his success on the court to his teammates. "I had the point guards on my team get me shots," Bamforth said. "I know Dame (Lillard) got me a lot of shots. It's not like it's all about me; I'm not out there playing one-on-one. It comes from our teammates getting shots and moving the ball; it's not just me." In the second half of the men's scrimmage, Lillard showed that his foot is OK following last year's injury. He scored a nice basket after crossing over, cutting past his defender and driving to the hoop. At the end of the men's scrimmage, Lillard received the loudest cheers of the night as he drove to the hoop and jumped over a defender to dunk the ball and tied the game. Davian Berry, a junior transfer from California State University Monterey Bay, had a strong game, driving to the hoop multiple times, and hitting multiple threes to show he can be another 3-point threat for WSU. See Basketball page 8 'Cats are on the road again WSU heads to Montana to face the No. 11 team in the nation By Nathan Davis sports editor I The Signpost After suffering their first home defeat of the season, the Weber State University football team will head to Montana this week, where they will face off against the No. 11 team in the nation, the University of Montana Grizzlies. Director of Football Operations Kamaal Ahmad said he is looking forward to the game with Montana, and that it's always special to travel to Washington and play in the Grizzly Stadium. "We are playing in one of the best college football atmospheres in the country," Ahmad said. "We have started a great rivalry with Montana. Both teams will be ready to play. It should be a great game." In order for WSU to have a chance at the playoffs, they will need to close out the season without suffering another loss. Linebacker Mo Neal said adversity is something the team is familiar with. "Personally," Neal said, "I feel like a lot of this game is played off of adversity .. . It's up to the team to get through the adversity." The Grizzlies enter this week's game with a 6-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Big Sky play and are ranked eighth in the nation in the FCS coaches poll and 11th in the Sports Network poll. WSU is 3-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action. WSU won the meeting last season in Ogden, but the Grizzlies have won 11 of the last 13 meetings with the WSU Wildcats, and Montana has won 12 straight against WSU in Missoula. The Wildcats have struggled in the second half of games this year, but have per- PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Josh Booker cuts upfield to elude a defender during a game earlier this year. WSU will take on the University of Montana on Saturday. formed well during the first two quarters of games. The team has outscored opponents 77-37 in the second quarter of games, but has struggled in the later stages; they have been outscored 7663 in the third quarter and 51-47 in the fourth quarter this season. Last week, WSU had a 14-3 lead at the half, but lost 35-28 in a close game to SUU. Mike Hoke said the loss will help motivate the team, and that he looks forward to proving those who doubt WSU's chances of making the playoffs wrong. Despite the loss last week, Josh Booker and Hoke each reached a personal milestone in the game against SUU. Booker, a sophomore running back, finished with 11 carries for 74 yards in Saturday's game. That pushed him over 1,000 yards for his career. In 18 See Football page 8 |