Seeking redemption from last year’s games against the alumni, the student basketball teams squared off against the alumni March 16 in the Auxiliary gym. 

The first of two games featured the evenly-matched game between the women’s student team and the Lady Alumni. 

The Lady Alumni were led by Sharee Youngstrom, with eight points. Laurie Evans, a senior from Blackfoot, Idaho, and Gretchen Walker, a junior from Rexburg, each added seven points to the students.

With less than a minute to go and the Lady Alumni leading 32-31, Tiffany Jesperson pulled through for the students as she hit the go-ahead 3-pointer, giving the students the lead and eventually the winning score of 34-32.

“It [the winning shot] was surprising,” Jesperson said. 

Another close game then followed as the men’s student team took on the men’s alumni, who have won every year in the student/alumni basketball game. 

Both teams struggled from the field, shooting below 40 percent and going in at halftime tied at 22.  

The teams shot much better in the second half.

Finally, with 22 seconds remaining in the game and the students trailing the alumni 65-63, Jonathan Ubri, a freshman from Boston, Mass., hit a 17-foot jumper to tie the game at 65. The alumni then failed to score in the waning seconds and sent the game into overtime. 

In overtime, the game stayed close until the final minute where B.J Hess, a senior from Malad City, Idaho, hit a 3-pointer and added two free throws in the last 17 seconds to seal the win as the students pulled off the victory 81-77.

The students were led by Mike McDonough, a junior from Boise, who scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half. Hess added 17 points, plus his clutch performance at the end. The alumni were led by Seth Cannon with 18 points.

“It’s good for the alumni to come and see what’s in the program. Athletes are always coming back as well as new students,” said Trent Shippen, director athletics. “It is not about basketball. It’s about brotherhood, fellowship, competing, and sisterhood and learning how to do it the right way.”