Growing up David Bunn, Lansing senior, used to play basketball in the driveway with his younger brother, Peter Bunn.
“Basketball was my favorite sport in high school, and I certainly liked them playing ball,” said The Bunn Brothers’ father, Terry Bunn.
Terry Bunn never thought that the games of Lightning and Pig would turn into watching his sons play against each other at the collegiate level, let alone at rival schools.
Albion forward David Bunn is a three-year varsity member of men’s basketball. Despite an ankle injury, David Bunn has started in three games this season with a 40 percent field goal percentage.
His younger brother, Peter Bunn, is a sophomore at Hope College. Named in the top 20 players in Michigan’s high school 2007 class, Peter Bunn signed onto play at Division I Oakland University for his collegiate career.
“I was supposed to be the star out of high school, but I turned out not liking my choice of schools at all,” Peter Bunn said.
After one season at Oakland University, Peter Bunn transferred to Albion’s MIAA rival, Hope College.
“When he told me he wasn’t going back to Oakland (University) and had decided to go to Hope, I was excited to be able to play against him, but I was disappointed he wasn’t coming to Albion,” David Bunn said.
In the brothers’ first meeting of the season on Jan. 10, Hope beat Albion 81-56.
“You always want to beat Hope,” David Bunn said. “Now that my brother plays on the team, it has changed because there is an extra incentive to win.”
On Feb. 4, David Bunn’s extra incentive paid off. With .04 seconds left, Albion led the game 70-68, then Hope’s Peter Bunn attempted a game winning 3-point-shot. The attempt, however, failed. It was the only 3-point-shot Peter Bunn missed the entire game, and Albion won.
“I thought that the shot was going in,” David Bunn said. “I gave him a hard time for fouling so much, but you can do that when you are brothers.”
David and Peter Bunn were not always opponents. In high school, Peter and David Bunn played together for two years at Class D Lansing Christian.
In their senior years, David Bunn was named second team all state and Peter Bunn was named Class D Player of the Year.
“I would much rather have him (David Bunn) on my team because he is very talented,” Peter Bunn said. “But it’s a little strange playing against him because I want him to do well as long as it doesn’t come at my expense.”
With both regular season match ups split with one win a piece, Peter and David Bunn could play each other for a third time in the MIAA tournament. With the opening round played on Wednesday, Albion was seeded third and played sixth place Adrian. The Dutchmen, who were one seed ahead of the Britons, played fourth ranked Olivet. The semifinals are tonight, Feb. 27, with the championship game tomorrow, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m.
David and Peter Bunn will wait to see if one of them will win the MIAA tournament.
“I am not rooting for Hope,” Bunn said. “But I am rooting for my brother.”
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