May 2, 2008 | The Clarion
Sports
Page 5
DeMarcus Nelson a Devil no more
By Joseph Chilton
Editor in Chief
DeMarcus Nelson had a great
senior season at Duke. He was
the Blue Devils’ team captain,
was named to the All-ACC First
Team this year, and made the
game-wiiming shot in Duke’s
first round NCAA tournament
win over Belmont.
And yet, most NBA Draft
previews tend to suggest that
Nelson will need a little help in
order to get drafted in the first
round come June.
Nelson may have received
that necessary extra push this
past Saturday during the aimual
ACC/Crossfire game in
Asheville.
The ACC/Crossfire game is a
basketball exhibition held
aimually at the Asheville Civic
Center. The game always
features a team sponsored by
Crossfire Ministries, an
evangelism group based in
Western North Carolina pitted
against the seniors from all of
the schools around the ACC.
Crossfire’s players are old
and slow, and the ACC’s
players always
beat Crossfire to a
pulp, showing a
level of dominance
reminiscent of the
glory days of Teen
Wolf.
But that’s okay
with Crossfire.
Their mission in
sponsoring the
event is to get thousands of
people to show up at the arena
in order to see big name
basketball players, and then
subject them to an hour-long
sermon and an altar call at
haUtime.
This year I was assigned to
cover the game for my
internship with the
Hendersonville Times-News,
because I am the lowly intern
and none of the staff writers
wanted to sit through the
sermon.
During halftime I was sitting
on press row and
got an up close
and personal view
of Crossfire
founder Randy
Shephard’s
proselytizing. At
the end of his
message he asked
everybody in
attendance to bow
their head and close their eyes,
and then asked that everybody
who wished to accept Christ as
their Lord and Savior raise their
hand.
I think it was just my nature
as a basketball fan, but at that
moment I had the urge to look
and see if any of the ACC
players, people who I had
watched on TV for the last four
years raised their hands. I
resisted initially, but when I
heard the clicks emanating
from the camera of the
Asheville Citizen-Times
photographer seated next to
me, I figured that it would soon
be no secret who had raised
their hand, and I peeked.
When I snuck my glance at
the ACC bench, I saw
DeMarcus Nelson with his
hand up roughly fifty feet in
front of me.
Will this decision aid Nelson
in his quest for a guaranteed
contract in the NBA? Only time
will tell. But I will tell you this:
Nelson had 15 points in the first
half before he got saved (Before
Christ, I will call that half), and
20 points in the second half
after he made his life-altering
decision. If that isn’t evidence
supporting the theory of the
prosperity gospel, I don’t know
what is.
Inaugural BC Spring Game a success
Courtesy Brevard College
Sports Information
The Brevard College football
team wrapped up three weeks
of spring practices on Saturday
night with the Inaugural Spring
Football game at Brevard
Memorial Stadium.
In a contest in which the
defense controlled most of the
game, a number of individuals
on both sides of the ball had
strong performances on the
evening as the Blue team came
away with the 28-3 win.
Quarterback Ky e Hamilton led
the Blue team for most of the
game, as the newcomer was II-
of-2I through the air for 166
yards.
Junior running back John
Taylor had a strong game in
which he carried the ball II
times for 75 yards and three
scores, including a nine-yard
touchdown run up the middle
that started the scoring for the
game.
Quarterback Matthew Gaines
had the lone other touchdown
for the game, a 20 yard
scramble to the end zone to give
the Blue team the 28-3
advantage.
Kicker Chase Henry was
perfect on the day, as the
freshman kicker made a 42-yard
field goal for the White team
and was 4-4 on point after
attempts for the Blue team.
“I am extremely pleased with
the execution of our players on
both sides of the ball, as well
as the tremendous effort and
discipline we played with here
tonight,” commented head
coach Paul Hamilton.
Blue team wide receiver Cory
Pertz led the receiving corp.
with eight catches for 71 yards
for the game, while Donald
Hudson, Justin Fleming and
tight end Curtis Lorenz all had
two catches for the game.
In only the second year of the
BC football program, the
Tornados went 2-9 in 2007 as
they competed as provisional
members in the very tough
South Atlantic Conference.
"I am extremely proud of how
far we have come as a team and
how much we have progressed
as a team since January,”
continued Coach Hamilton.
“We played tonight with a lot
of speed and a lot of effort. We
know we have miles and miles
to go to be where we want to
be and know that we can build
on where we are right now as a
program.”
“I, as well as the staff, would
like to personally thank
everyone that was involved
with the game, the Tornados
club, the administrative and
support staff and the
community,” stated Coach
Hamilton. “We appreciate all
the work that was put into this
event. It was a great day not
only for the football program,
but for Brevard College as a
whole.”