The game plan was simple for Pi Kappa Phi: Ryan Dailey grabbed the rebounds and brought the ball downcourt, Justin Conrad scored the points in the key, Kevin Murphy hit the deep two-pointers, and Jim Peck sunk the field goals from the perimeter.

What was not so simple was stopping the men of Pi Kappa Phi as they cruised to a 44-29 win over Alpha Epsilon Pi to claim the fraternity division intramural basketball title Monday night in the Intramural Building.

After being evenly matched in the opening minutes, Pi Kappa Phi began to take control of the court, hitting its shots and jumping out to a commanding 26-14 halftime lead, from which it never looked back. The victory was especially sweet for the brothers, as they narrowly missed clinching the championship in last year's title game.

"It's nice to go out on top," co-captain Murphy said. "We ended up losing [in the finals] last year on a buzzer-beater, in the last seconds, so it's nice to avenge that loss."

In order to avoid a repeat of last year, the players of Pi Kappa Phi played together all year, practicing three times a week at the Intramural Building and competing in a 3-on-3 competition at the beginning of the year. They also worked on ball movement, cutting to the hoop, and making extra passes on the offensive side of the ball.

Defensively they stressed developing quick feet and helping out on the weak side, according to fraternity brother and team coach Kirk Pope.

These skills were evident Monday night as the Pi Kappa Phi defense contained the Alpha Epsilon Pi offensive efforts, allowing Pi Kappa Phi's offense to dominate the game and the scoreboard.

"Tonight was the best game I've seen them play on both sides of the court," Pope said. "Offensively we were hitting the shots and defensively we had good help-side defense."

Versatility was also key in Pi Kappa Phi's victory. While Alpha Epsilon Pi struggled with connecting on its shot attempts all night, the variety of offensive threats able to shoot both inside and outside for Pi Kappa Phi ensured that the team never had any long scoring droughts.

"I thought we were resilient," co-captain Conrad said. "If a part of our game wasn't working, we focused on another part."

While Monday night's game concluded an undefeated season and ended college intramural basketball play for the senior team members, the Pi Kappa Phi brothers still aren't done on the basketball court.

"A lot of us are seniors but we are still going to keep playing," Conrad said. "There are still some younger kids on the team and we hope they carry on the tradition."

But for now, the players are content to celebrate this year's championship, which they feel has been long in coming.

"We've had the same group of guys since freshman year, but with people abroad and with co-ops, it was hard to make it to the championship," Dailey said. "Now with everyone together, we knew it was our time."

And for the brothers of Pi Kappa Phi, it couldn't have been a better time.