Hold on to your Frisbees – Siem Reap’s first hat tournament to be held this month in conjunction with Halloween, will attract flying disc fanatics from around the world.

For those not in the know, hat tournaments are where Ultimate Frisbee team players sign up as individuals and are randomly assigned to new teams. Ultimate is frisbee throwing turned into a sport between mixed gender teams which, unlike most team sports, are self-officiating without referees.

“Hat tournaments are the same version of Ultimate Frisbee played at any level, the same rules etc. It’s just the style of how teams are assigned,” says Siem Reap Ultimate tour director Becca Smith.

“Rather than joining the tournament as a team you sign up as an individual. Then the organisers will assign mixed ability teams, effectively ‘picking names out a hat’. That’s why it’s called a hat tournament.

“But there’s more planning that goes into it to make sure teams are well balanced. For example, people who play club or national level are mixed amongst all teams, likewise first time players are all mixed up to make teams more fair and even.”

Being open to players of all abilities to mix in and play together is the main reason for the popularity of hat tournaments.

“We have players signed up who play on national clubs and who have played Worlds,” Becca says. “Masters players enjoy hats as they are less competitive and easier on the muscles.

“They’re also great for inexperienced players to get a feel for competitive play in a no-pressure environment while becoming part of the global ultimate community. Basically, it’s social and fun – no pressure and great for player growth.”

The Siem Reap tournament, to be held on October 28-29, has space for 150 players and as of publication time well over half that number had registered.

Ultimate Frisbee players in action. Paul Creane

“We have sign ups from Bali, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, America as well as locally across Cambodia,” Becca says.

Ultimate started as a counter-culture activity in the US in the 1970s. It’s now played in over 100 countries and is recognised as an official sport by the International Olympic Committee. Adherents hope it will be added to the Summer Olympics but it failed to make the cut for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics so its next chance will be with the 2032 Brisbane Summer Olympics.

Siem Reap is home to a lively Ultimate scene which was started in 2019 by Jared Cahners, former anthropologist, former president of the Cambodia Flying Disc Association and now Cambodia Ultimate Frisbee Prime Minister. He’s also not averse to a round or two of disc golf.

The local Ultimate scene also sets a fast pace and Becca Smith says, “We play three times a week, Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm and Sundays at 10am always at Wat Bo Football Centre.

“We have hosted inter-city friendly matches, the last one against Reach Chsey Ultimate in 2022. We also sent a mixed team of locals and expats to play in the Cambodian Ultimate open in Phnom Penh in April.

“Plus we enjoy working with the other athletic organisations in town. In August we had an inter-sport event, hosting both GAA Gaelic Football and Temple Tigers Touch Rugby to come and learn how to play our sport and teach us how to play theirs.”

The group has also started up Srey Day which is a women’s only night held once a month and Becca says, “This is to help the growth with women in the sport overall and hopefully getting more Khmer women coming to join us too.”

Becca herself started playing Ultimate in 2020 when she first moved to Siem Reap and was instantly captivated by the sport and its supportive community.

“I come from a solo sports background and something that put me off from team sports was that if I play badly then I’d be letting my team down,” she says.

“Luckily for me that hasn’t been the case at all. Everyone is so encouraging. If you drop the disc, that’s fine. If you throw in the wrong direction, that’s fine. It really is a sport for everyone, any age, and any ability.

“I feel our community captures that. We have around 50% female players, 50% male with ages ranging from 8 years to 60 years and older sometimes. Half our players are international and half are local Khmer. Even if somebody has never even touched a frisbee, that’s great, they’re welcome. It’s a place where the Siem Reap community can come together. We’re all from different backgrounds, countries and professions but we all enjoy throwing things around and having a cheeky drink afterwards.”

Meanwhile, another of Siem Reap’s Frisbee features, Cambodia’s only disc golf course is gearing up to run a number of tournaments when it reopens – the course is unplayable during the wet season. The sport follows rules similar to golf and players throw a Frisbee at a target, usually a type of basket.

Former American chimney sweep Jacob Neff opened the Siem Reap Disc Golf Course in 2018 after inspiration provided by attending the Hyzenbrownie Open disc golf tournament on Koh Samui.

His course also has accommodation with The Basket Homestay and is gearing up for its own Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) sanctioned C-tier singles tournament on December 26 titled Boxed Out 2023 “powered” by Innova, a leading Frisbee manufacturer.

C-Tier tournaments generally run for one day and have large amateur fields making them attractive for beginners and players wanting to notch up their first tournament-level disc golf experience. PDGA membership is not required to compete.

Registrations also close on November 1 for the fifth annual Khmer Cup singles tournament slated for February 16-18, 2024.

“Our pinnacle event is the Khmer Cup and last year we had a famous disc golfer play it and we hope to bring more players and make it a bit bigger,” Jacob says. “In March we also have an event called ‘A Holiday in Cambodia’ that takes place in and around an ancient temple site.”

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INDIANAPOLIS — KJ Williams scored six of his 18 points in overtime after Murray State blew an eight-point lead late in regulation, and the seventh-seeded racers extended their winning streak to 21 games with a 92-87 victory over San Francisco in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

The Racers (31-2) tied South Dakota State for the longest winning streak in the nation this season. With SDSU’s loss to Providence earlier Thursday, Murray State can edge ahead in Saturday’s East Region second-round game against Saint Peter’s. The 15th-seeded Peacocks topped Kentucky 85-79 in OT.

The nightcap in Indianapolis was just as tight, with 18 lead changes and 14 ties. Murray State ultimately took control with Williams’ clutch baskets and Jordan Skipper-Brown’s timely plays in the extra session.

Jamaree Bouyea scored 36 points for USF (24-10), which made its first NCAA appearance since 1998.

Williams made a go-ahead layup with 1:15 remaining before Skipper-Brown’s layup made it 89-85 with 30 seconds left. Zane Meeks’ putback got USF within a basket, but he missed a free throw. Skipper-Brown made two free throws with 13.7 seconds left before adding another with 1.7 seconds remaining to seal the win.

The Racers led 73-65 with 1:58 remaining in regulation, but Khalil Shabazz made a 3-pointer and Bouyea followed with five straight points.

Trae Hannibal also had 18 points for Murray State before fouling out late in regulation. Brown added 17, Justice Hill scored 15 and Skipper-Brown had 12 points and 10 rebounds, all of which the Racers needed to well out their latest win.

Big picture

San Francisco owned the paint 40-36 but was outrebounded 43-35, and that made the difference.

Murray State got the balance it wanted and needed to outlast the Dons.

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Those two, plus Colgate’s Patriot League final defeat of Navy, are the most relevant developments from Wednesday. The schedule expands considerably Thursday, and here’s what to look for as the fates of several more teams will be sorted out.

Michigan vs. Indiana (Big Ten second round, 11:30 am, Big Ten Network): Juwan Howard returns to Michigan’s bench from suspension as the Wolverines (17-13) look to break out of a rut that’s seen them alternate wins and losses for the last nine games. Indiana (18-12) wishes it suffered from that inconsistency; the Hoosiers have dropped seven of nine since the calendar flipped to February.

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Bracket impact: Michigan’s probably safely in, but a victory means the Wolverines probably don’t have to fret about the slightest chance of getting sent to a play-in game. The Hoosiers’ slim at-large hopes will end with a loss.

Florida vs. Texas A&M (SEC second round, noon, SEC Network): Florida (19-12) has done just enough to hang around the at-large conversation, beating the teams they’re supposed to (7-1 against teams below .500 in SEC) and losing to nearly everyone of substance in the league (other than a Feb. 19 defeat of Auburn). Texas A&M (20-11) is super-streaky, having started 15-2 before dropping nine of 10 and now winning four in a row. These are the only real borderline SEC teams this season.

Bracket impact: Loser is off to the NIT, while the winner gets a shot at Auburn on Friday.

Creighton vs. Marquette (Big East quarterfinal, approx. 2:30, Fox Sports 1): Those who believe the NET ranking is an end-all, be-all probably think Creighton (20-10) could use a victory or two this week. The Bluejays, No. 66 in the NET, should be good to go regardless thanks to a 5-5 mark in Quadrant 1 games. Their inclusion here is merely in the name of thoroughness.

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Bracket impact: Both teams are probably going to land between the 7 and 10 lines when seedings come out Sunday. The winner will have a shot at getting to the ceiling of that range.

Miami vs. Boston College (ACC quarterfinal, approx. 2:30, ESPN2): Miami is in the same category as Creighton. Its NET ranking isn’t great (61st), but it is 4-1 in Quadrant 1 games and has 10 true road victories — more than any other power conference team.

The diagnosis here is the Hurricanes (22-9) are safe regardless of whether they beat ACC spoiler Boston College. But just in case, it wouldn’t hurt to do what Wake Forest couldn’t and bring the Eagles’ season to an end.

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Bracket impact: Miami won’t get helped much, if at all, with a victory. But a loss means the Canes will be discussed as a borderline team for the next few days even if that shouldn’t be the case.

Colorado vs. Oregon (Pac-12 quarterfinal, approx. 5:30, Pac-12 Network): Fourth-seeded Colorado (20-10) has won seven of its last eight, including an upset of Arizona, to close in on the fringe of the at-large conversation. Fifth-seeded Oregon (19-13) disposed of Oregon State in Wednesday’s first round and is in a similar situation as the Buffaloes: In dire need of victories.

Bracket impact: Both teams still need multiple victories in the Pac-12 tournament to make a compelling at-large case. Consider this elimination game for NCAA purposes, much like Florida-Texas A&M.

Wyoming vs. UNLV (Mountain West quarterfinal, approx. 5:30, CBS Sports Network): The wackiest conference tournament this week might be the Mountain West’s, which has three near-certain NCAA teams, and three or four others (depending on how you feel about Nevada) capable of making life miserable for anyone in the league.

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Smack dab in the middle is Wyoming (24-7), which dropped four of its last seven to find itself right at the edge of the field. The Cowboys are 4-4 in Quadrant 1 games and 6-1 in Quad 2, but they have only two victories over likely NCAA tournament teams (Boise State and Colorado State at home). A multiday stay in Las Vegas is advised, and that starts by beating UNLV on its home floor.

Bracket impact: Unless it wins the Mountain West, Wyoming is going to be one of the borderline teams everyone is talking about right through Sunday evening. It’s not rocket science: The further the Cowboys get this week, the better their chances.

North Texas vs. Rice (Conference USA Quarterfinal, 6:30, Stadium): The defending Conference USA champs and this year’s top seed, North Texas has a decent profile — 9-1 on the road, 23-5 overall, a 5- 2 mark in quadrant 2 games. There’s only one problem: There just isn’t much heft at the top of the Mean Green’s resume besides a victory at fringe at-large candidate UAB. (The same can be said of UAB, which won at North Texas and Saint Louis but also had a few more questionable losses than the Mean Green).

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Bracket impact: There are some intriguing teams in C-USA, with North Texas, UAB and Louisiana Tech chief among them. It’s highly unlikely any of them can land an at-large berth.

Oklahoma vs. Baylor (Big 12 quarterfinal, 7, ESPN): Largely forgotten about as it sunk to .500, Oklahoma (17-14) enters the Big 12 tournament on a three-game winning streak. Granted, beating Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Kansas State doesn’t help much this season. But the Sooners might get some extra attention if they get on a run in Kansas City.

Bracket impact: Baylor could fall off the No. 1 line with a loss. Oklahoma has more than a game’s worth of work to do to get itself firmly in the at-large conversation.

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Bracket impact: The Hokies are more of a predictive metrics darling than anything else, but there’s no doubt a victory over the Irish improves their standing and inches them closer to the edge of the field.

Washington State vs. UCLA (Pac-12 quarterfinals, 9, Pac-12 Network): Washington State (19-13) beat California on Wednesday, which does little for the seventh-seeded Cougars’ biggest problem: A complete dearth of Quadrant 1 victories. Beating UCLA would change that.

Bracket impact: Think of Washington State as Virginia Tech Lite. A victory over the Bruins would help, while a loss effectively ends what slim chance there is of reaching the field of 68.

Last four included: VCU, Rutgers, Xavier, Wyoming

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First four on the outside: BYU, Wake Forest, Florida, Dayton

Next four on the outside: Oklahoma, Indiana, Texas A&M, Oregon

Moving to: Saint Peter’s, Wyoming

Moving out: Iona, Wake Forest

Conference call: Big Ten (8), Big East (7), Big 12 (6), SEC (6), ACC (4), Mountain West (4), American Athletic (3), Pac-12 (3), West Coast (3), Atlantic 10 (2)

West vs East, South vs Midwest

(1) WEST COAST/Gonzaga vs. (16) BIG WEST/Long Beach State

(8) Seton Hall vs. (9) San Diego State

(5) LSU vs. (12) SUMMIT/South Dakota State

(4) Texas Tech vs. (13) SOUTHERN/Chattanooga

(3) Tennessee vs. (14) IVY/Princeton

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(6) Iowa vs. (11) MISSOURI VALLEY/Loyola Chicago

(7) OHIO VALLEY/Murray State vs. (10) Creighton

(2) ACC/Duke vs. (15) ATLANTIC SUN/Jacksonville

It will fly under the radar among the other tournaments in the Las Vegas area, but the Big West tournament (featuring top seed Long Beach State) has a chance to be especially wacky. Nobody got to 20 wins. Only UC Irvine didn’t lose 10 games (and the Anteaters dropped nine). Six teams finished within three games of the league lead. … LSU’s defeat of Alabama to close the regular season was its first over a likely tournament team in eight weeks. The Tigers started 15-1, and have gone 6-9 since. …

If Iowa can get past Northwestern on Thursday, it actually has a reasonably decent draw in the Big Ten tournament even if didn’t beat its likely opponents in the regular season. The Hawkeyes lost 48-46 at Rutgers, whom they would play in the quarterfinals, and they have losses by four points and two points against possible semifinal foe Illinois. … Coach K’s final ACC tournament run begins Thursday as Duke meets Syracuse, which will play without suspended guard Buddy Boeheim.

(1) PAC-12/Arizona vs. (16) NORTHEAST/Bryant-HORIZON/Northern Kentucky winner

(8) Michigan State vs. (9) Iowa State

(5) Alabama vs. (12) CONFERENCE USA/North Texas

(4) BIG EAST/Providence vs. (13) MID-AMERICAN/Toledo

(3) BIG TEN/Illinois vs. (14) METRO ATLANTIC/Saint Peter’s

(6) Texas vs. (11) San Francisco

(7) Colorado State vs. (10) Miami

(2) SEC/Auburn vs. (15) SUN BELT/Georgia State

Arizona opens Pac-12 tournament play Thursday against Stanford, which uncorked a 16-1 run in the final three minutes to edge Arizona State on James Keefe’s buzzer beater. … Is Providence going to be a little rusty in the Big East tournament? It’s a fair question for the Friars, who haven’t played in nine days. They’ll face Butler in Thursday’s quarterfinals. …

Saint Peter’s is the top remaining seed in the Metro Atlantic tournament after Rick Pitino-led Iona lost to Rider in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Pitino will instead take a team into the NIT for the first time since Louisville reached the semis in the event in 2006. … It won’t impact the composition of the field, but Colorado State’s matchup with Utah State could be one of the day’s best games. The Rams’ David Roddy and Utah State’s Justin Bean — the respective power forwards in the game — rank in the top 10 in the Mountain West in scoring.

(1) BIG 12/Baylor vs. (16) SWAC/Alcorn State-SOUTHLAND/Nicholls State winner

(8) Marquette vs. (9) Notre Dame

(5) AMERICAN ATHLETIC/Houston vs. (12) Xavier-Wyoming winner

(4) Arkansas vs. (13) AMERICA EAST/Vermont

(3) Villanova vs (14) PATRIOT/Colgate

(6) Southern California vs. (11) Michigan

(7) MOUNTAIN WEST/Boise State vs. (10) TCU

(2) Purdue vs. (15) BIG SOUTH/Longwood

It was 20 years and five coaches ago that Alcorn State last made the NCAA tournament. The SWAC’s top seed nearly got bounced in the quarterfinals Wednesday, but the Braves rallied past Prairie View A&M to win in overtime. … Xavier looks much, much better on paper than it does on the court. The Musketeers swept Creighton and beat Connecticut, Marquette and Ohio State. That’s probably enough to get them a ticket to at least Dayton, but Xavier will have no one but himself to blame if it winds up in the NIT. In their last 10 games, the Musketeers went 2-8 and lost to St. John’s (twice by double digits), Butler and DePaul.

Colgate turned back a second-half rally from Navy to win its third Patriot League tournament in the last four years. The Raiders (23-11) will make their fifth all-time NCAA trip and have won 15 in a row and 19 of 20 since a 4-10 start. They have a chance to match last year’s accomplishment of a No. 14 seeds. … Losses by teams such as Wake Forest and Xavier only increases the cushion for Michigan, which has plenty of daylight between itself and the edge of the field.

(1) Kansas vs. (16) MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC/Norfolk State

(8) North Carolina vs. (9) Memphis

(5) Connecticut vs. (12) Rutgers/VCU winner

(4) UCLA vs. (13) WESTERN ATHLETIC/New Mexico State

(3) Wisconsin vs. (14) BIG SKY/Montana State

(6) Saint Mary’s vs. (11) SMU

(7) Ohio State vs. (10) ATLANTIC 10/Davidson

(2) Kentucky vs. (15) COLONIAL/UNC Wilmington

North Carolina has won 11 of its last 13 and hasn’t lost away from Chapel Hill since Jan. 22. The Tar Heels begin their ACC tournament Thursday against Virginia. … The top six seeds are still alive in the WAC, where New Mexico State owns the best overall record (24-6) but everyone left in the field has at least 19 victories. The WAC’s raid of the Southland, which notably brought Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin into the fold, made it a dramatically better basketball league this season. …

SMU moves out of play-in territory and onto the No. 11 lines. The Mustangs beat Houston at home and swept Memphis during the regular season, and would be well-served not to lose to anyone in the American Athletic tournament other than one of those two. … Ohio State lost three out of four in an eight-day span to close the regular season, including stumbles against Maryland and Nebraska. The Buckeyes could use something to feel good about coming out of the Big Ten tournament, even if it is beating a Penn State bunch that similarly struggled down the stretch.

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LAS VEGAS — Just about an hour before tipoff Saturday night at Orleans Arena, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi articulated, very concisely, what was on the line for BYU in the West Coast Conference quarterfinals against San Francisco.

Everybody already knew that it was a massive game. But when Lunardi speaks, everybody pays attention.

“A BYU win … against San Francisco should result in a record four bids for the WCC,” Lunardi tweeted, and he had the Cougars moving into “Last Four In” the Big Dance.

Unfortunately for no. 5 seeded BYU (22-10), it squandered an opportunity — a Golden opportunity — for a Quad 1 victory and a chance to bolster its resume and get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

No. 4 San Francisco led almost the entire game and defeated the Cougars 75-63.

Afterward, Lunardi tweeted, “BYU slides out of the projected field with the loss against San Francisco.”

The Dons (24-8), meanwhile, may have clinched their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m proud of my guys. This was a big game for a multitude of reasons. If you’d been listening to the media all week, they were trying to build this up as an elimination game. I didn’t feel that that was the case with our body of work. We left no doubt tonight,” said USF coach Todd Golden.

“We controlled the game after the first four minutes. These guys (Khalil Shabazz and Jamaree Bouyea) are the two best guards in the league. I’m really excited that this team is going to be dancing.”

Golden called it “one of the biggest wins in the last 35 years” in program history.

“It secures our (NCAA) Tournament bid,” he added.

As for BYU? Its NCAA Tournament hopes remain precarious at best. The Cougars could be headed for the National Invitation Tournament.

BYU had no answer for Shabazz and Bouyea. Shabazz poured in 22 points, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, while Bouyea finished with 18 points and four assists.

What impact did Shabazz and Bouyea have on the outcome?

“Everything is run through them. A big impact,” said BYU guard Spencer Johnson. “They made shots and a lot of tough shots. They were good tonight.”

“They’re terrible players. They’re dangerous,” said coach Mark Pope. “They complement each other really well. They’re also a really disruptive force on the defensive end in different ways.”

BYU, meanwhile, shot just 38% from the field, including a miserable 3 of 20 from 3-point range.

Combined, Gideon George, Caleb Lohner and Trevin Knell hit only 2 of 18 from the floor.

The Cougar offense, which looked so sharp in Friday’s second-round win over LMU, sputtered most of the night against USF.

Alex Barcello ended up with 19 points but hit only 1 of 5 from 3-point territory. Fousseyni Traore recorded another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Johnson added 11 points on 4 of 4 shooting.

“There were some things that we didn’t do as well tonight as we had the last two weeks, some point of attack things that were a little bit surprising that we didn’t manage as well as we had,” Pope said.

“We were 3 of 20 from the 3-point line. Part of that was because we’ve just got to find ways to find each other shots more consistently.”

The game was close throughout the first half as the Dons took a 27-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Early in the second half, the Cougars trailed 31-29, but then Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas picked up their third and fourth fouls, respectively.

The Dons seemed to get stronger as the game went on.

With 13 minutes left, BYU missed three 3s on one possession as Trevin Knell banged a shot off the side of the backboard, Lohner missed another one and then Lucas airballed a 3 that went out of bounds.

Moments later, USF went on an 11-0 run, capped by a Shabazz 3-pointer to grab a 15-point lead, 54-39.

With a little more than four minutes remaining, a floater by Barcello pulled to within eight points, 60-52.

But seconds later, Shabazz responded with another 3-pointer, pushing USF’s lead back to double-digits, 63-52.

“We gave up some easy buckets in transition and it kind of got them going,” Johnson said. “It was nothing huge. Some rebounds we didn’t come up with and didn’t bounce our way.”

In the closing seconds of the game, Bouyea took a pass after a steal and instead of running out the clock, he jammed a resounding dunk. His histrionics after the slam drew a technical foul.

As Golden said later, that was an exclamation point on a convincing win, one that meant a lot to USF’s program.

The victory also meant a lot to Don big man Volodymyr Markovetskyy, a Ukrainian whose father is defending his homeland in Ukraine against Russian forces.

Markovetskyy only scored three points but he made life tough for BYU inside Saturday night.

For the Cougars, it was a forgettable performance.

They made only 11 of 18 free throws in the second half and were outrebounded, 41-37.

Pope described the locker room after the disappointing loss.

“Incredibly competitive guys that put their whole heart and soul into this. Guys played with a great edge the last three weeks, trying to resurrect themselves after taking some hits,” he said.

“They did an unbelievable job fighting back. When you invest that much, it’s hard to lose. They understood the opportunity they had in front of them tonight and they put everything they had into it… It hurts.”

USF is good, Johnson said, but so is his team.

“Credit to them. They played really well. Playing against high-level teams is always a battle,” he said.

“They came out and hit some shots. It just didn’t go our way tonight, but I totally think we’re a tournament team. We have the guys and the resume. We’ll bounce back. We always do and we always want.”

Now the Cougars will wait, a full week, until Selection Sunday, to find out their postseason fate.

“We’re excited to keep playing,” Pope said. “It’s a special group. We’re hopeful.”

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