Dunk 51, Uptempo 48

My initial thought when I saw the nightcap for week 10: “Raf vs. Scott? There’s gunna’ be a lot shots. First team to 50 wins the game.”

The two all-stars set the tone of the game for their respective teams but Raf definitely seemed more assertive, as he tried his best to get the cup. Seeing that his Green Team was ready to work, Raf switched from his normal role of scorer to playmaker, dropping four dimes in the first half. While Scott (seven first half points) and Raf (eight points, four assists) were rolling, their teammates had to double-up to match up to their fearless leaders. Harold Reid (six points) and Ryan Kearney (three points) combined for nine points in the first, and Uptempo tandem of Jarek Carethers and Nick Blatchford dropped five a piece to bring the halftime score to 26-23, in favor of the Dunk Squad.

Williams rocked the building with a five-point possession, converting on an and-one in the lane, missing the free throw but gathering the rebound and then knocking down an and-one 3-pointer, to give Uptempo the 28-26 lead. Williams then dished to Carethers for the bucket down low, only to have his team’s 7-0 run stopped by Raf’s 3-pointer to the grill. Scott (20 points, seven rebounds, three steals) entered Mamba-mode, coming down on the ensuing possession and hitting yet another and-one 3-pointer and giving Uptempo the 33-29 lead. Continuing from the last five Uptempo points of the first half, Scott scored 14 of Uptempo’s 16 points in a 15 minute stretch (and made the assist to Jarek, who was the only other boy in blue to score during that time). But Raf kept things close (and Gang Green kept to captain Halo’s game plan of get Raft the ball and watch what he does with it) by hitting a runner in the lane through contact without a call from the official. With Uptempo only up two, Kearney knocks down an open left corner jumper to tie the game at 44.

Late game free throws from Uptempo put them ahead by two and Carethers (13 points, 10 rebounds) added to the lead with a layup (48-44) with 1:48 remaining. Raf channeled his inner Biggie and shoots it out for 20 minutes, until the games finished, knocking down a crunch-time trey and cutting the lead to one.

On the game’s deciding sequence, Reid (nine points, six assists) misses a free throw with his team still trailing by one. Scott grabs the defensive board, only to lose the ball to Reid, who then makes a pass to Raf (22 points, four steals, four assists, four rebounds) for the go-ahead layup (49-47, Dunk). After Harold converts on another free throw attempt, Scott is fouled with 2.3 seconds left but can’t convert. Dunk holds on to win 51-48.

*Side note: Dunk scored 50 first. I’ll also be making Super Bowl predictions, if anyone needs them.

Box Scores