OAKLAND CITY - Double-teamed on the basketball court by husband and wife?

Oakland City University opponents of both genders may feel that way this winter.

Six-foot-six senior Nate Schumacher, who averaged 14.9 points and an NCAA Division II-leading 12.7 rebounds last season; and 5-9 classmate Kristi McVey, who averaged 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Lady Oaks, tied the knot Sept. 11.

In a sense, their wedding was a team function. It was conducted by Rev. Matt Malin, a Mighty Oaks guard in the late-1980s after playing at Wood Memorial High School.

"Rev. Malin recruited me when I was a high school senior and he was an assistant coach here," said the 23-year-old McVey, who said her husband "helps me with post moves and rebounding.

"We come into the gym for shootarounds. I really watch Nate when he's about to get a rebound, because he's so good at reading where the ball will come off."

McVey, who will play under that name this season - they plan a wedding celebration ceremony sometime after both graduate in May - smiled.

"I'm helping Nate on free throws," she said. "I tell him not to think about it. His technique is fine, but I think he thinks about it too much."

Schumacher, who transferred to Oakland City in August 2008, after one junior college year at John Logan in Carterville, Ill., and a sophomore year at the University of Southern Indiana, said he and his bride "talk quite a bit about basketball.

"We get to vent to each other, and we know how uplift each other.

"It's really great to get to spend a lot of quality time with Kristi. She supports me in everything I do."

Though Schumacher began OCU classes in August 2008, the start of McVey's fourth college school year but third in basketball because injury kept her from playing as a 2005-06 freshman, they didn't start dating till last January.

"We both had been in other relationships," Schumacher said.

"Our teams were riding the bus to Huntsville, Ala., for a doubleheader with Alabama-Huntsville.

"We kind of met on that bus ride. We started talking and fell in love."

"Nate is the love of my life. I think God had a plan for me to meet my soulmate," said McVey, who grew up in Paris Crossing and graduated from Southwestern High of Hanover in 2005, a year before her husband graduated from Evansville Central.

Schumacher, turns 22 on Jan. 17 and will complete a business education degree, with a focus on accounting, in May. His wife will complete a criminal justice degree. "Mom's a nurse and I've been a nurse's aide. Since coming here I've worked part-time at Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Oakland City,'s McVey said.

"I'll take a six-month administrative training program. I could seek a criminal justice position that deals with abuse to the elderly."