Author: Kathleen Jo Luevano
“Occidental is lucky to have two young men who are able to put on an event like this,” Greg White, an alumnus of Kappa Alpha Psi said about Dwight Murray (junior) and Justin Morgan (sophomore). They are the two members of Lambda Rho, Oxy’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, who put on the event “Hoops With the Nupes,” Saturday, April 14.
This 3-on-3 basketball tournament was a fundraiser for the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation. The cost to enter for a team of three people was $25, and to have an alternate fourth player cost an additional $5. The winning team was awarded with a cash prize of $120 as well as champion t-shirts. A total of ten teams competed in the tournament-five of them were made up of Oxy students and the other five were comprirsed of friends and Kappa Alpha Psi alumni.
The tournament lasted from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and there were a number of supporters in the stands. Oxy’s very own DJ Mix Masta Mario (Sam Peña, senior) kept the music going throughout the entire event. Teams won and advanced to the next round by scoring fifteen points before their opponent did with a minimum of a two point lead.
The final two teams left standing at the top of the bracket battled it out in the championship game. Several of Oxy’s finest players, Huston Conti (sophomore), Gemayal McBride (junior), Chris Pitcher (junior), and Connor Whitman (junior), made up one of the two teams. Their opponent was a team of four friends from Pasadena. Conti put the first points of the game on the scoreboard with a shot just outside the 3-point line. This set the rhythm for the rest of the game. Though it was close, the men of the Oxy Basketball Team proved that they could overcome any competition with a final score of 15-11.
“We’re glad people came out to support. We hope for next year to get the whole campus involved,” Murray said. Murray and Morgan are the only two members of Kappa Alpha Psi at Occidental College but have support from the many alumni from the Pasadena Alumni Chapter of the fraternity. It is thanks to these two men that Occidental can “look for better things to come in the future with Kappa Alpha Psi,” White said.
To learn more about the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, visit http://kappafoundation.org. For more information about “Hoops With the Nupes,” ask Murray or Morgan for more information. Or you can just wait until next year and participate yourself!
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
