The champions of the battle: Andrew Lichty, Tom Hazelet, James French and Stanley Bass
American Tobacco’s Bay 7 is known for hosting many a fancy affair. But that wasn’t the case last Friday, when the popular wedding venue contained a handful of sweaty men instead of a blushing bride.
The sweaty men were actually all hard-working Durhamites, taking a break from their day jobs to battle it out in a basketball championship playoff match for bragging rights and the chance to support a local public school of their choice. The Battle in Bay 7 began on Wednesday with 27 teams, eight of which played on Friday. The Final Four came down to YMCA Durham, Square 1 Bank, TROSA and KeySource Bank. YMCA beat Square 1 Bank in the first round of the Final Four in a nail-biter of a match, and KeySource defeated TROSA to go on to battle YMCA Durham. In the end, YMCA took home the trophy, but the real winner was Lakewood Elementary’s athletic department, which received $2,500 as the YMCA’s public school of choice. KeySource Bank represented Neal Middle School with a $1,500 donation.
Check out the slideshow of fans rooting for their respective teams, and watch the video of two fantastic back-to-back plays by YMCA’s Stanley Bass against Square 1 Bank.
