Terminator 31, Uptempo 42

Riding high off last week’s win over Generation, Uptempo needed a victory to get to the .500 mark on the season. While both teams came out slow, Scott Williams scored the first 10 points for Uptempo, still feelin’ the fire from his last performance of 32-5-5. Williams (20 points, four steals, four assists) then switched roles and tried to get his team involved dishing through the lane to Jarek “iWreck” Carethers (nine points, 13 rebounds) for the games first big lead (16-7, 8:55 left in the first). Uptempo team captain Terrence Chin got in the mix for a two-point drive, pushing Uptempo ahead by 10. The young gunner of Uptempo, Jeff Chen finished off the run with a no-look-pass to Greg Kubie, who finished his breakfast with the layup and a 24-12 lead. Sensing his team losing ground, Dan Gladstone (19 points, five rebounds) ended Uptempo’s scoring streak with an and-one bucket to end the half 28-14.

The second half saw Uptempo play like the champions I’d heard so much about. Not looking to run up the score, take bad shots and throw away possessions, they simply stayed poised. Omar Grant (seven points, four rebounds) tried to swing the momentum with his well known ball pressure but it was Uptempo’s Chin who calmed the team and reminded them to take care of the ball. Tony Forte cleaned up the glass for the Terms, hauling down 10 rebounds but in the end Uptempo came away with the 42-31 win and a new sense of where they stand heading into the homestretch of the regular season.

“We needed this win to get back to where we were last year,” Williams said. “It was a hard fought effort and the league can expect to see more of it, so we can make it back to the Garden.”

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