Foamposite 50, Air Force 1 58

Preface: I have to note that before this game even started, while Air Force 1 looked like they were only going to be able to field four players, Foamposite GM Do Kim refused to let me suit up with my former team to make it an even five. Turns out it didn’t matter, even though Air Force 1 began the game with only four warm bodies.

To start, it appeared Air Force 1 GM Ben Detrick had given up smoking or something, because he was running the floor like a gazelle. With just him, Brandon Smith, Jason Burke and birthday boy Lucian Dickson (who said he was gonna drop 21 in honor of the occasion), Air Force 1 jumped out to an early lead. And when Chris Dowling rolled in, there was nothing Foamposite could do to stop the pain. At the 14:00-minute mark, they led 14-4.

Then something crazy happened. With 11:53 left to play, and at 8:18pm, it was as if the whole gym saw a ghost. Sauntering in like he’d been here for weeks, Paul Rivera came back to make his triumphant return to the League. And once he checked in the game, you could see why he’s Air Force 1’s motivating factor and greatest instiller of confidence.

The first half was up-and-down, with Foamposite making a bunch of careless turnovers. On one play though, Brian Saul hit the lane with his patented one-hand jump stop in the lane, and although the ball got away from him, it landed in the hands of Mike Tumbarello for the nice alley-oop. But somehow despite their sloppiness, Air Force 1’s lead at the 5:00 minute mark was only 23-17.

Then the Rivera factor finally appeared. With Burke and Dowling doing work in the frontcourt, Smith was able to go back to just catching and shooting while Rivera pushed the pill. It’s safe to say that things didn’t look good for Foamposite.

In the second half, Air Force 1 took it to the next level. Despite Foamposite’s scrappy play, a ridiculous two-handed block by Smith – followed by a three on the other end – put Air Force 1 up 42-29. Between Smith, Burke’s production (despite missing a wide-open dunk to make it three years in a row) and Rivera’s old (fat?) man buckets in the lane, the game was seemingly out of reach with 8:30 left to play and Air Force 1 holding a 52-31 lead.

But Foamposite came back. A nice and-one by Brian Bachelor, followed by another bucket, and Foamposite had cut the lead to 52-45 with under five minutes to play. Too little too late, Air Force 1 just wanted it more and finally closed out a game.

Final score: Air Force 1 wins, 58-50.

	1	2		T
Foamposite	22	28	-	50
Air Force 1	31	27	-	58

Box Scores

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