Alex Ritzman of Sweet Home played on the Northwest Christian College men’s basketball team that placed second in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association national championship basketball game on March 10.
NWCC was seeded fourth going into the tournament.
The team led by six points at halftime but couldn’t hold on, falling to Rhema Bible College at Tulsa, Okla., in overtime 72-68.
“It was a close game the whole time,” said Ritzman, a sophomore. “I was there for, like, support.”
Ritzman, a Sweet Home alumnus who played post for the Huskies, is playing at shooting guard for NWCC. He was a redshirt walk-on last year. This is the first year he can actually see time on the court.
“I’m enjoying it very much,” Ritzman said.
“After my senior (high school) season, I didn’t plan on (playing in college).”
But he went ahead and tried out and made the team, he said.
“I’m just glad Sweet Home has been supporting me even though I’m away from the community.”
He is a business management major.
One of his former Sweet Home teammates, Garrett Kauffman, is playing for Corban College in Salem.