Energized by his team’s record-breaking season last year, IUS men’s basketball coach Wiley Brown said his player are ready for a repeat.

“We went to the final four last year. This year we are hungry for a championship,” Brown said. 

The Grenadiers started their season on Oct. 17 with an inter-squad scrimmage, sharing that energy with about 150 fans.

IU Southeast is coming off their best season ever after receiving their highest national ranking and going to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Fab Four last year.

The night was about family fun as the players picked people out of the stands to participate in various activities throughout the night.

The first activity was a three-point shooting contest where each IUS player picked someone out of the stands to shoot with them and be their teammate. Aaron Hayes, freshman guard, made 14 of 20 attempts. He barely hit the net on most of the makes and won the contest.

Then was the hot shot and dribbling contests. Once again, each player picked fans in the stands to be their partners.

The last activity before the scrimmage was the dunk contest. Three high flyers were picked to compete: Vernon Payne, Greg Magee and Aishon White. Payne started the contest off with a between-the-legs dunk, in a fashion that Vince Carter would have been proud of. Magee then followed with a rocker, bringing the ball back by his ears before slamming it home with authority. White was the last to go. He threw an alley-oop to himself before launching from inside the first hash mark below the free throw line, and punishing the rim with the jam.

Payne and White were picked by the fans applause to compete in the finals. White went first and picked senior guard, Kevin Mitchell, to throw him the ball from the corner of the court and jammed it away with two hands. Payne then picked Mitchell to stand a few feet away from the rim and jumped over him before putting it home one handed.

The last event was the much-anticipated scrimmage game. They played two 20-minute halves with a running clock until the final minute in each half.

Judging by the tip-off alone, you knew it was going to be an exciting night. Mitchell picked up the tip, took two dribbles and threw an alley-oop to Magee, putting the Cream team up 2-0.

Both squads came out pressing with a man-to-man defense. The game started fast paced as both sides were getting up and down the floor in a hurry.

“That’s our style,” Brown said after the game. “We have a lot of talented individuals. Sometimes I just have to let them go.”

The Crimson team had balanced scoring in the beginning. Each starter had a basket after their first 11 points.

“I really liked our chemistry,” Brown said. “We are very talented but they are putting the team first. That comes from putting a lot of time in during practice.”

The first half ended, Crimson leading Cream 32-23. Kegan Clark led all scorers with 14 points for Crimson going into the half. Magee led Cream in scoring with 10 points.

The sparks continued in the second half as the Grenadiers showed why they were in the Fab Four a season ago.

The tempo continued as both teams got up and down the floor, wasting no time.

The high-powered offense scored an astonishing 130 combined points as the Crimson team topped the Cream team, 68-62, at the final horn. The teams also combined to shoot an amazing 12 of 14 from the charity stripe.

Mitchell led scorers in the second half with 13 points and finished the game with 18 for the Cream team. Magee led all scorers with 22 points. Clark finished with 19 points, leading the way for the Crimson team.

Coach Brown has the Grenadiers prepared and focused as he enters his seventh season at IU Southeast.

The team starts their season off with three games on the road before coming home to play IU South Bend on Tuesday, Nov. 9.