Week 4 – Feb 5
Another great night at Metro League!!
The predicted Game of the Night lived up to the hype and it was a heated battle between 3D and EA Sports. Run N Gun stepped up (with big buckets from Jordan Yu) to take the win over Bullets. Sonic Boom and the Celtics hit the floor for another good match while Canada One and Swat easily rolled on to victory!
Highlights:
Block of the Night – East Van Mutineers John Sirmul
Assists of the Night:
Corey Wee (Swat) alley-oop lay-in
Josh Booy (3D) touch pass give-n-go
Game of the Night
3D 75 - EA Sports 66
It was a battle of the big men last night and Josh Booy of 3D instantly set the tone with a massive block to start the game. Blocks became a recurring theme on the night as Booy had a few rejections on the night, with Graeme McCallum (3D) and Matt Mahar (EA) both swatting shots away. 3D’s team work earned them a comfortable lead at half (33-22) with big scores from Graeme McCallum (21), Jason Hubbs (19) and Taylor Cherris-Wilding (15).
EA refused to go gently so Mike Baxter and Matt Mahar took over the 3rd quarter – each earning 25 and 16, respectively. Baxter stepped up his game again and nailed two consecutive 3′s to give EA the lead for the first time in the game. With just over 5 minutes remaining, tempers began to flare and the refs handed out a couple T’s to very unlikely candidates (Baxter and Hubbs). Some tight calls sent the teams to the line, forcing them to stay in the game one point at a time (3D hit 70% of their 26 free throws, EA hit 60% of 22). 3D pulled away with the tough win on the night with their characteristic unselfish offense and smothering defense despite the heroic efforts of EA’s Baxter and Mahar.
Canada One 117 – East Van Warriors 84
The Warriors all tried to battle the league giants with good scoring coming from Dennis De Vita (18), Gary Haywood (18), Andrew Millard (16), and Cesare Martino (15), but the League Champs controlled the game from start to finish. Eric Butler (18) and Sean Maxwell (19) had great games, but the night was dominated by another big performance from Navi Sekhon who gathered up 39 points. Howard Kelsey had a big night with 22 points to ensure the win. Randy Nohr was notably absent (curious to know what he will do after his 61 point night last week), but I’m sure he’s busy preparing the UBC Tbirds bball team for their last home game of the regular season (Sat night 8pm).
Sonic Boom 59 – Celtics 43
The game stars in this match-up were definitely Sonic Boom’s Paul Rother (20) and Igor Dutina (19). Celtics kept in this game despite missing their big man Melvyn Mayott and late arrival of David Toljanich. Toljanich (10) added 5 buckets along with Rannel Ramos’ 12 points. Big defenders Dutina (2 blocks) and Connor Rockandel (8 points) forced the Celtics to shoot from long range, but they couldn’t convert enough 3′s to close the gap. However, Pat Caffrey continued to find his way through the trees to nab buckets from inside for 8 points.
Run N Gun 95 – Bullets 77
Run N Gun’s new recruits have dramatically increased their scoring power – even against the experienced Bullets. Ben Lee (22) and Jamie Robinson (25) produced big buckets, but the Bullets could keep pace with Run N Gun offense. Jordan Yu (31) and Mark Tasic (28) both had big nights, forcing the Bullets to defend both inside and out. Yu lit it up from 3-point range, tallying seven treys.
Swat 78 – East Van Mutineers 40
Swat had a rocky start in the late game, but quickly regained their energy with sneaky Corey Wee at the point and a hard-slashing Monjeff Peters (17). The biggest swat of the night honour goes to John Sirmul of the Mutineers who might be getting the call to play beach vball with that big swinging block. Jay Glover was ignited by his cheering fans to score 16 points on the night, but Swat’s Sherlan John found the inspiration to score four 3′s and earn 23 points for his team. Stefan Avall hit some key buckets to swing the momentum back to his team and a beautiful alley-oop from Corey Wee to Monjeff Peters was a definite crowd-pleaser.