Generation 56, Terminator 55

Of all ten teams in the NRF, Terminator and Generation are two of the hottest right now. Leading the charge for Generation in the absence of team leader and stalwart Dan Cherry, Generation looked to rookie Rafael Dasilva to continue his impressive play. And he delivered.

From the jump, it was as if Dasilva (25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) was unleashed from Pandora’s Box. Running the fast break and knocking down shots left and right, it was as if he was “on fire” in NBA Jam. But on the opposite end of the floor, Terminator looked like a completely different team. While the players are the still the same, aside from Tony Chan returning from injury, Terminator is now playing like they think they can win – clearly a difference from last season and earlier this year.

With 10 minutes left in the first half, after knocking doing a couple big shots, Chan (13 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) appeared to be auditioning for the next Jordan commercial – throwing around the classic MJ shrug as if it was all too easy. But Terminator was out to a 23-16 lead and Chan and company appeared to just be getting started.

The consensus in the stands is that both teams are better than their records indicate. Sure they’ve had some tough losses, but overall, these teams can play. In what made out to be a high scoring first half, Terminator went into the break leading 36-32.

During the break, an important question arose: Where is Michael Olowokandi Smith? As good as Terminator has been playing, they could definitely use the help of their No. 1 pick. But with or without Smith, Terminator’s recent success is because they’ve been playing together as a team.

In the second half though, Generation had their own team plans. Behind impressive play from Dasilva and J.J. McGowan, at the 15:00 minute mark, the score was tied 40-40. The defense across the board was intense, causing normally trigger happy Treasure Kyn Neal to become much more of a facilitator.

Play continued back and forth until one minute remained and the scored was still tied, this time 55-55. With the ball in their hands, Treasure (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) was almost too unselfish and nearly turned over the ball. But after a questionable offensive foul by Dan Gladstone, McGowan (14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) went to the line to shoot two. Missing the first, but making the second, Terminator had one last chance with under five seconds to play. They called timeout, drew up a play, but a key defensive stand featuring a Dasilva strip of Brendan Callahan (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) sealed the victory.

Final score: Generation wins, 56-55.

	1	2		T
Generation	32	24	-	56
Terminator	36	19	-	55

Box Scores

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