Faculty and staff capture Provost's Cup

Larry Moneta's three-pointer led the faculty and staff team to an overtime victory over students. Larry Bird, meet Larry Moneta. Down 20-13 at the half, the faculty and staff team surged back to tie the student team, 30-30, at the end of regulation. Then in sudden-death overtime, Associate Vice Provost and faculty and staff player/coach Moneta sunk a three-pointer to win the Provost's Cup Friday evening at the Palestra. "I'm probably going to go home and get dinner," said Moneta when asked what he was going to do now that he had won the Provost's Cup. Sponsored by the Athletic Department, the Provost's Cup was held before Friday's women's basketball game against Dartmouth. Although the event was intended to promote student-faculty interaction and increase women's basketball attendance, the Cup drew fewer than 50 spectators. But despite the low turnout, team members and spectators enjoyed themselves, spending much of the game socializing and showing off for their friends in the audience. Provost Stanley Chodorow, whose permanently injured ankle leaves him unable to play basketball, watched from the bleachers in his striped referee shirt and purple parachute pants. Chodorow's attire was bland next to that of Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, the referee representing the faculty and staff. Looking like a clueless tourist in Hawaii, Bilsky wore a black, orange and pink watercolor T-shirt and torn, grey-brown bermuda shorts. "Is that some Robin Williams-Peter Pan look?" alumni coordinator Harriet Joseph heckled. Unfazed by the criticism, Bilsky responded that he was just wearing the "official Provost's Cup outfit." Amid the faculty and staff's joking, the students powered ahead under the strong play of College senior Jugdeep Bal. With his black beard and sport goggles, Bal helped his teammates employ their strategy of "attrition." "We're trying to wear them out by constant substitution," student coach and Senior Class President Neil Sheth said. "Actually, we're trying to kick them in the shins," College sophomore Scott Melker joked. The only person in the Palestra wearing a shirt and tie, Sheth was asked why he did not play and coach simultaneously like faculty and staff coach Moneta. "You never see Pat Riley go in, do you?" he said, adjusting his tie. Though action under the basket was slow, both teams used picks and judicious passing to set up shots. But the students clearly had the early edge. Even the grinning, avuncular Chodorow was pessimistic about his co-workers' chances. "Sure, I'd bet for these guys," he said, pointing to the lumbering faculty and staff. "At least, if injuries were a plus." The players were more upbeat. "We're a second-half team. Our coach has a second-half strategy," said Rodney Robinson, assistant director for residence programs. Robinson was key to the faculty and staff comeback, getting crucial rebounds and consistently scoring on the fast break. With less than two minutes to play, Statistics Professor Ed Lusk hit a three-pointer to bring the faculty and staff to within two of the students. And with 40 seconds left, Robinson tied the game with a fast-break lay-up. In an unusual move, Bilsky called for a sudden-death overtime. After three possessions of continuous fast break, Moneta took his shot. Some spectators were afraid Moneta's success would go to his head. "Oh, he's going to be insufferable," Joseph said.