EPWBA Game Recaps: Senior Division

Nationals: Michael Butts, Troy Bailey, Brandon Payne, Randy Smith, Prince Sakyi, Josh Edwards, Ismael Ramirez, B.J. Rulloda, Scott Patterson, Marz Carty.

Americans: Jalen Garrett, D'Trevian Strozier, Pablo Irizarry, J.C. Cummins, Matt Thornton, Cameron Freeman, Dagmawi Mequanint, Akin Wilks, Jamaal Payne, Jermel Payne.

The National All-Stars displayed a little more accuracy around the basket and were able to prevail in a fast-paced game that was close until the final two minutes. The teams were deadlocked at 15 after the first quarter on the 3-point shooting of Patterson and Edwards for the Nationals and the inside work of Jamaal Payne and Freeman for the Americans. The Nationals built a 26-29 lead in the second quarter but Irizarry's closing 3-pointer kept the American squad in close contention. The offense heated up for both teams in the third quarter, with Carty scoring on a variety on drives for the Nationals and Matt Thornton countering for the Americans. The Americans took their first lead of the game at 37-36 on Mequanint's lay-up, but Patterson immediately answered with two free throws for the Nationals. Strozier's lay-up briefly recaptured the lead for the Americans, but Bailey's 3-pointer put the Nationals ahead for good at 41-39. The Nationals led 43-39 after three quarters. The Americans got close once more at 45-44 but Sakyi's short jumper and Carty's rebound follow put the Nationals firmly in control. Carty led the Nationals with a game-high 14 points, Patterson had 12 and Sakyi 8. Smith scored 6 hard-earned points in the paint and Rulloda and Ramirez had 5 apiece. Jamaal Payne and Strozier paced the Americans with 10 points, Thornton followed with 9, Irizarry 6 and Freeman 5.

The Lakers did everything right in the second half, breaking open a close game to win by 19 points. Troy Bailey started the game by drilling his patented line-drive 3-pointer, and the Lakers had a 7-0 advantage before Jake Dement broke the ice for the Celtics with a rebound put-back. Vigorous defense by both teams kept the scoring in check, and the Lakers still led by 7, at 13-6, with four minutes remaining in the half. A jumper by Michael Butts and a lay-in by B.J. Rulloda quickly got the Celtics with 3 points, and it was anybody's game at half-time at 18-14, Lakers. Bailey started the second half as he had the first with a 3-pointer, and the tone was set for the rest of the game. The teams traded baskets on the next few exchanges, with Bailey and Scott Patterson scoring for the Lakers and Sandip Pradhan and Steven Avalos countering for the Celtics. Prince Sakyi's driving lay-up and Patterson's baseline jumper put the Lakers in front by 29-18. After a time-out, Rulloda scored on a runner in the lane, and made another a short time later, but that proved the last real threat by the Celtics. Tyre Draper's follow shot of a missed lay-up kept the Lakers in control, and Bailey's third [and last] 3-pointer put a dagger in the Celtic hearts. The Lakers enjoyed a 41-24 lead with just under 8 minutes to play and were able to match any Celtic basket from there to the finish. Bailey led a balanced Laker attack with 13 points, Patterson had 12, Sakyi 10, Draper 8 and Jared Flowers 6. Rulloda was high man for the Celtics with 10 points, Butts and Avalos had 6 apiece, while Pradhan and Jared Flowers each had 4.

The Celtics prevailed as their offense was just a little hotter than the Blazers' down the stretch. The game was close all the way, tied at 10 at the 12-minute mark and with the Celtics holding a 14-13 lead at the 6-minute mark. The Celtics widened their lead to 20-15 on Jake Dement's lay-in, but Carl Napper quickly answered with a 3-pointer and D'Trevian Strozier's free throw and basket gave the Blazers their first lead of the game at 21-20. Josh Edwards restored the lead to the Celtics with two free throws to conclude the first-half scoring. Napper scored the first basket of the second half for the Blazers but the Celtics scored 6 of the next 8 points to regain the lead at 28-25. Strozier then engineered two cosecutive mid-court steals which he converted into lay-ups and a 29-28 Blazer lead with 13 minutes to go. The Blazer momentum was short-lived, however, as the Celtics' Sandip Pradhan drained a 3-pointer. After Strozier scored again, Steven Avalos conveted a lay-up for the Celtics on a feed from Michael Butts to make it 33-31 Celtics. That's when Celtic point guard B.J. Rulloda turned up the heat, scoring on three consecutive forays in and around the lane. Edwards' rebound basket gave the Celtics their biggest lead to that point at 41-33 with 7:30 remaining. The next couple of minutes featured a shoot-out between Strozier and Rulloda. At 41-36, Rulloda hit a 3-pointer from the left side and Strozier immediately answered with a conventional 3-point play on a drive and a free throw. Rulloda drilled another trey and Strozier answered with one of his own from the top of the key. The Celtics still held their 5-point lead at 47-42. Butts made a layup for the Celtic, answered once more by a Strozier hoop. Then it was Rulloda's turn again to make it 51-44 Celtics, and the Blazers could get no closer as time wound down. Rulloda amassed 25 points in all for the Celtics, Butts added 13, Pradhan 7 and Edwards 6. Free throws were a key ingredient of the Celtics success as Butts made 7 of 9 and the team was 12-for-16. Strozier led the Blazers with a game-high 27 points, Napper had 8 and Matt Thornton 7.

The Lakers built a big early lead then withstood a strong Sixer rally in the second-half to advance to the tournament championship. Scott Patterson connected on three medium-range jumpers and Santiago Valda nailed a 3-pointer to provide the Lakers an early 11-4 lead. Tyron Meadows drove for two hoops and Brandon Payne scored twice in the paint, but their efforts were more than offset by Jared Flowers 3-pointer and two more baskets by Patterson. The Lakers led 24-11 at the break. The Sixers, playing without leading scorer Marz Carty, weren't quite through, however. Payne continued to work the boards and Andre Gaughan warmed up from the field. When Gaughan scored on a base-line jumper with a little over 3 minutes remaining it was 38-32 Lakers, and the Sixers' pressure defense was causing the Lakers some trouble. Cameron Burke's 3-pointer for the Sixers whittled the Laker advantage to 41-37. But the Lakers played some stingy defense of their own, and two free throws by the Lakers' Nick DeFelice were the last points of the game. Patterson and Prince Sakyi scored 10 points each for the Lakers, Flowers had 8 and Troy Bailey 7. Payne led the Sixers with 12 points, Burke had 10 and Gaughan 8.

The 8th-seeded Bulls came within 30 seconds of upsetting the top-seeded Lakers, but Brandon Turner's only basket of the game on a strong post-up move enabled the Lakers to squeak through to the semi-finals. The game started with the two teams trading baskets, with Prince Sakyi navigating his way to the hoop for 9 of the Lakers first 12 points, while the Bulls' ball-movement offense found Filimon Zeraye inside for two scores, and the Lakers led 12-11 midway through the half. The Bulls then went on an 18-4 run, started by Alex Jalajel's second 3-pointer of the game. With Cameron Freeman scoring from mid-range, Jalajel nailing a third trey, and Zeraye scoring twice more in the paint for the Bulls, the Lakers looked increasingly disorganized and found themselves on the short end of a 29-16 score. Then it was Sakyi to the rescue for the Lakers, making two free throws, scoring on still another drive and, after being fouled on a 3-point attempt at the horn, converting all three free throws. At the break the Lakers had cut a 13-point margin to 6, at 29-23. The Laker rally continued as the second half got under way, with Scott Patterson, Sakyi and Ricky Romero each scoring to tie the score at 29. The teams were tied again at 33 and 37, and the Lakers took a brief lead at 39-37 on Patterson's two free throws. But buckets by Mikose King and Akin Wilks put the Bulls in front again at 41-40. Three-pointers by Cameron Freeman and Jalajel extended the Bulls lead to 47-42 with just under 3 minutes to play, and an upset appeared very much in prospect. Patterson and Troy Bailey took turns going 1-for-2 from the line while the Bulls went scoreless, and a lay-up by Sakyi made it 47-46 Bulls with a minute left. At that point, the swarming Laker defense began to create turnovers, and Sakyi, Nick DeFelice, and Turner each made one of two free throws to give the Lakers a 49-47 lead. The Bulls made one more bid for a huge win when Nick Hasselius buried a shot from just behind the arc to make it 50-49 Bulls. Finally, the Lakers worked the ball to Turner on the baseline, and Turner scored the winning basket. The Lakers final margin came from free throws after the Bulls failed to score and had to foul. Sakyi led the Lakers with 29 points, Patterson had 9, while Bailey and Tyre Draper added 5 apiece. Jalajel's 12 points on four 3-pointers led a balanced Bulls attack in which every player scored. Zeraye was next in line with 8 points, Freeman had 7, Wilks and David Puckett had 6, King 4, Hasselius 3, DeVonte Johnson-Craig and Ervin Febus 2 each.

The Blazers have adopted an unconventional, but successful, approach in the post-season: spot the opponent a big early lead, play on even terms for most of the game, then finish with a blistering attack to overwhelm the opponent. The 7th-seeded Knicks scored the first 10 points on the game as Randy Smith was almost unstoppable on the boards. Dawit Deferes finally got the Blazers on the scoreboard and Matt Thornton added two free throws and a 3-pointer, but the Knicks still lead 17-7 midway through the first half. Then came a typical Blazer blitz: three buckets by Thornton, two by D'Trevian Strozier and one by Johan Acosta, and the score was knotted at 19-all. It was 23-22 Blazers at the break. The teams battled on even terms to start the second half, as the Knicks got a lay-up from Ricky Romero, a trey from Ismael Ramirez and three more buckets in the paint from Smith, while the Blazers countered with scores from Thorton, Strozier and Acosta, and the teams were tied at 33, setting the stage for the Blazers' closing blitz. Teague Peck's lay-up broke the tie and Thornton followed with a short jumper to give the Blazers a 4-point lead. Strozier then knifed through the lane for two contested lay-ups, stepped back to drill a 3-pointer, and added another lay-up while the Knicks could muster only a single free throw by Kevin Somoza. Suddenly, the Blazers had a commanding 46-34 lead. Somoza nailed two treys down the stretch, but that was more than matched by the scoring of Thornton, Strozier and Carl Napper. Thornton [25 points] and Strozier [24] produced most of the scoring for the Blazers, but Acosta, Deferes and Evan Harris provided solid interior defense over the last 10 minutes and Peck contributed his second highlight-reel block of the post-season to foil a prospective easy break-away lay-up when the game was still up for grabs. Smith led the Knicks in scoring with 21 points, Terry Lee had 10 and Somoza 9.

In the Championship contest between Division winners, it was all Lakers at the start and all Blazers at the finish. In between, it was a fiercely fought battle with the two teams rarely separated by more than 3 points. The Lakers jumped out to a 14-7 lead with Troy Bailey connecting on two 3-pointers and Scott Patterson scoring twice in the paint. Meanwhile Matt Thornton's 3-pointer and short jumper saved the Blazers from facing a double-digit deficit before the game was 5 minutes old. Then when Sean Cardenas somehow put the ball in the basket while lying on his back and D'Trevian Strozier converted a driving lay-up, the Blazers were within 14-11 and the battle was on. The Blazers took a brief 19-17 lead on two scores by Thornton and one by Carl Napper, but Patterson's lay-up and Bailey's third trey of the half regained the lead for the Lakers. Tyre Draper's lay-up made it 25-19 Lakers before buckets by Johan Acosta and Teague Peck narrowed the Lakers lead to 25-23 at half-time. The back-and-forth battle continued after the break with Strozier pouring in 9 points for the Blazers and Patterson and Prince Sakyi carrying the scoring load for the Lakers. The score was knotted at 37-all as the clock ticked past the 5-minute mark. That's when Matt Thornton took over the game, scoring three consecutive baskets, including one on an acrobatic jump shot on a drive across the lane. The Lakers went cold, and then had to begin fouling to try to regain possession. That didn't work as Thornton went 4-for-4 at the line and Evan Harris swished both of his attempts. Within 3 minutes the Blazers had forged a 49-37 lead out of a tie score and the game was essentialy over. Thornton led all scorers with 21 points, Strozier added 15 for the Blazers, Harris had 5 and Napper and Peck 4 each. Patterson led the Lakers with 12 points, Sakyi had 10, Bailey 9 and Draper 4.

The Sixers and Suns engaged in a ferocious defensive battle, with most of the field goals coming on rebounds or hotly contested drives to the hoop. Ultimately the Sixers' superiority at the free throw line [8-for-11 in the second half, 14-for-21 for the game] made the difference. The Suns converted only 5 of 19 attempts. The Sixers led 18-15 at the half with Marz Carty scoring the first 8 Sixer points on baseline drives and Cameron Burke and Tyron Meadows contributing 6 points from the free throw line. Jamaal and Jermel Payne meanwhile were keeping the Suns close with their work on the boards and in the lane. The Sixers widened their lead to 7 points to open the second half on buckets by Carty and Brandon Payne, but the Suns stormed back, finally taking the lead at 25-24 on Jamaal Payne's put-back. Garrett McGahee nailed a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 31-27 advantage. The Sixers knotted the score again on buckets by Burke and Carty, and Burke's free throw edged the Sixers back in front at 32-31. A third-chance follow by Jamaal Payne and a 3-pointer from the corner by Derek Toohey returned the lead to the Suns at 36-32. But after that it was all Sixers. Carty connected on still another drive and on subsequent possessions the Suns fouled Brandon Payne on two attempted lay-ups rather than let him score. Payne buried all four free throws to give the Sixers the lead for good at 38-36. Carty led the Sixers in scoring with 16 points, Payne had 11 and Burke 7. Jamaal Payne tallied 14 points for the Suns, Jermel Payne had 10, while Toohey and Alex White each had 5.

After 9 lead changes into the early minutes of the second half, the Celtics appeared in trouble when they dropped behind 36-30 with 14 minutes to play. That's when their interior dominance, and particularly that of Michael Butts, began to take its toll. Butts hit a short base-line jumper, Sandip Pradhan scored in the paint, and Butts hit three more from close in while the Jazz could muster only a basket apiece from Pablo Irizarry and Dagmawi Mequanint, and the teams were deadlocked at 40. B.J. Rulloda made one of two free throws to put the Celtics up by one with just over 10 minutes to play, and that was the last lead change of the game. Rulloda scored the next 5 points of the game as well to give the Celtics a 46-40 lead. The Jazz mounted one more threat on Mequanint's two free throws and Jalen Garrett's driving lay-up to cut the Celtics' lead to 46-44, but they never scored again. Derek Becka hit a high-arcing shot in the lane while getting fouled, then added the free throw, and the Celtics were back in control. Butts led the Celtics in scoring with 15 points, followed closely by Rulloda with 14, Pradhan with 13 and Becka with 10. Mequanint paced the Jazz with 20 points, Irizarry had 10 and Garrett 8.

The Blazers had finished the regular season on a 4-game losing streak, but put that frustrating experience well behind them with a resounding defeat of the Jazz in a play-off for the Division title. The cold-shooting Suns could hardly buy a basket in the opening half and the Blazer point guard D'Trevian Strozier could not be stopped from slashing to the hoop, resulting in a 20-7 half-time advantage to the Blazers. Jamaal and Jermel Payne opened the second half with two quick buckets for the Suns to give their team hope, but Strozier converted two free throws and still another driving lay-up to put the Blazers in control for good. Strozier wound up with 32 points, while Matt Thornton and Teague Peck chipped in with 6 apiece. The Paynes led the Suns in scoring, Jermel with 9 and Jamaal with 6. Aaron Hawkins also had 6.

Player [Total points, games played, average: ppg]

D'Trevian Strozier 222, 13, 17.1

Marz Carty 174, 11, 15.8

Terry Lee 164, 11, 14.9

Dagmawi Mequanint 123, 10, 12.3

Pablo Irizarry 154, 13, 11.8

Bjorn Rulloda 152, 13, 11.7

Prince Sakyi 120, 11, 10.9

Ariel Ramirez 21, 2, 10.5

Matt Thornton 132, 13, 10.2

Michael Butts 118, 12, 9.8

David Puckett 118, 13, 9.1

Randy Smith 112, 13, 8.6

Jamaal Payne 112, 13, 8.6

Kevin Somoza 43, 5, 8.6

Scott Patterson 110, 13, 8.5

Carl Napper 103, 13, 7.9

Brandon Payne 100, 13, 7.7

Alex Jalajel 92, 12, 7.7

Ismael Ramirez 98, 13, 7.5

J.C. Cummins 66, 9, 7.3

Andre Gaughan 87, 12, 7.3

Josh Edwards 86, 12, 7.2

Troy Bailey 91, 13, 7.0

Jermel Payne 91, 13, 7.0

Nick De Felice 89, 13, 6.8

Cameron Burke 88, 13, 6.8

Jalen Garrett 87, 13, 6.7

Cameron Freeman 54, 9, 6.0

Filimon Zeraye 30, 5, 6.0

Sandip Pradhan 75, 13, 5.8

Akin Wilks 61, 12, 5.1

Alex White 29, 6, 4.8

Teague Peck 43, 9, 4.8

Elliott Heim 58, 13, 4.5

Tyron Meadows 57, 13, 4.4

Tyre Draper 57, 13, 4.4

Mikose King 53, 13, 4.1

Connor Murray 52, 13, 4.0

Steven Avalos 52, 13, 4.0

Johan Acosta 38, 10, 3.8

Brandon Turner 49, 13, 3.8

Alex Monaco 45, 12, 3.8

DeVonte Johnson-Craig 44, 12, 3.7

Aaron Hawkins 40, 11, 3.6

Sean Cardenas 42, 12, 3.5

Julian Ferriol 30, 9 3.3

Jared Flowers 42, 13, 3.2

Derek Becka 42, 13, 3.2

Kiet Nguyen 36, 13, 2.8

Derek Toohey 35, 13, 2.7

Luke McNulty 29, 11, 2.6

Ervin Febus 28, 11 2.5

Ravi Rajoo 30, 12, 2.5

Jeremy Brown 31, 13, 2.4

Martin Membreno 31, 13, 2.4

Jake Dement 19, 8, 2.4

David King 28, 13, 2.2

Dawit Deferes 23, 11, 2.1

Brandon Abban 23, 11, 2.1

Garrett McGehee 24, 12, 2.0

Deric Obeldobel 23, 12, 1.9

Nick Hasselius 24, 13 1.8

Ricky Romero 21, 12, 1.8

Evan Harris 13, 9, 1.4

Santiago Valda 17, 12, 1.4

Miller Irwin 11, 8, 1.4

Nico DeArcangelis 10, 9, 1.1

Derek Carlisle 8, 8, 1.0

Jose Hernandez 5, 8, 0.6

Elijah White 2, 7, 0.3

DeVonn Morgan 2, 8, 0.3

Stefen Lewis 0, 10, 0.0

The Suns kept their hopes alive for a share of the American Division title with the narrowest of wins over an opponent that refused to quit. The Suns jumped to a 15-8 lead at the outset on the inside scoring of Jermel Payne and a 3-pointer from J.C. Cummins. But the Bulls battled back to knot the score at 21-all at half-time on the strength of the outside shooting of Alex Jalajel and David Puckett. In the second half, the Suns continued to forge leads that the Bulls would wipe out. Garrett McGahee hit a baseline jumper and Alex White scored on a drive to give the Suns a 40-34 lead as the clock passed the 4-minute mark. But Akin Wilks scored in the lane for the Bulls and Jalajel nailed his fourth 3-pointer to bring bring the Bulls within a single point again at 40-39. Cummins answered for the Suns with two clutch free throws, Jamaal Payne added another, and Jermel Payne's follow shot finally gave the Suns what appeared to be a definitive lead of 45-39 with a minute remaining. But the Bulls still weren't done. Mikose King's lay-up made it 45-41 and, after a Suns turnover, Puckett drilled a trey to again make it a 1-point game. The Bulls regained possession on a jump ball under the Suns basket with 5 seconds remaining. Devonte Craig-Johnson rushed the ball upcourt and fed Jalajel for the game's final shot--a corner 3-pointer which rattled out as the horn sounded, and the Suns had survived. Jermel Payne led the Suns' attack with 13 points, Cummins had 12 and White 8. Puckett was high man for the Bulls with 14 points, Jalajel added 12 and Wilks 8.

The Suns and Blazers fought on even terms down to the wire, but the Suns interior strength eventually proved decisive. Jamaal Payne led the Suns with 22 points, all in the paint, on rebounds or lay-ups off of assists from teammates. Jermel Payne added 9 points in the paint or from the free throw line, and J.C. Cummins, also with 9 points, provided the Suns only scoring from long range. D'Trevian Strozier slashed to the hoop for most of his team-high 17 points for the Blazers, and Carl Napper supplied 15 points, including three buckets from behind the arc. Matt Thornton had 7.

The Sixers, after trailing 24-20 at half-time, used a suffocating defense and strong rebounding to hold the Celtics to 10 second-half points and derail their chances for a share of the National Division title. Scoring for the Sixers was distributed among Brandon Payne [11 points], Marz Carty [9], Martin Membreno [8], Andre Gaughan and Tyron Meadows [4 each]. Sandip Pradham paced the Celtics with 12 points, Bjorn Rulloda had 11 and Josh Edwards 7.

The Lakers deployed a balanced attack and opportune defense to win their league-best 10th win of the season. Coupled with a Celtics loss, the Lakers emerged with the National Division title and a spot in the League Championship game vs. the eventual American Division winner. Scott Patterson was high man for the Lakers with 12 points, Nick DeFelice had 11, Tyre Draper 9 and Brandon Turner 8. Terry Lee led the Knicks with a game-high 20 points, followed by Ismael Ramirez with 9 and Randy Smith with 5.

Persistence paid for the Bulls as they put together a solid team effort to notch their first win of the season. They trailed 39-31 when Pablo Irizarry nailed the third of his five 3-pointers for the Jazz, but Alex Jalajel immediately answered with a 3-pointer of his own, and the Bulls had caught fire. Buckets by Jalajel, Mikose King and Filimon Zeraye put the Bulls in front and they withstood a fierce Jazz rally at the finish. Jalajel and Zeraye led the Bulls with 13 points apiece, Cameron Freeman added 12, while King, David Puckett, and Ervin Febus each had 6. Irizarry led the Jazz with 22 points, Garrett had 17, and David King and Kiet Nguyen each had 6.

The Celtics built a seemingly comfortable 10-point lead in the second-half, saw it melt away, then rallied late for the win. The Celtics scored the last 6 points of the first half to take a 17-12 lead, then built it to 27-17 midway of the second half. But the Jazz refused to deviate from their deliberate offense, competed on the boards, and nosed in front 32-31 on Pablo Irizarry's 3-pointer. Bjorn Rulloda regained the lead for the Celtcis with a free throw and a coast-to-coast drive, and the Celtics held on from there. The Jazz had one last chance to tie after Jalen Garrett hit one free throw and intentionally missed the second, with 11 seconds to play. The Jazz corralled the rebound and worked for a 3-point attempt, but never got a clear shot. Rulloda led the Celtics with 12 points, Michael Butts added 11 and Sandip Pradhan 8. Irizarry tallied 11 points for the Jazz, Garrett had 10 and Ravi Rajoo 6.

The Jazz kept their American Division title hopes alive by squeaking past the Suns behind a 20-point effort by Dagmawi Mequanint. Pablo Irizarry tallied the first 8 points for the Jazz and Mequanint the next 10 as the Jazz built an 18-12 lead with the first-half winding down. But Derek Toohey hit a short jumper and Alex White nailed a 3-pointer to bring the Suns within a point at half-time. It was more of the same in the second half--the Jazz would open up a 5-6 point lead and the Suns would climb back to within a point. Jalen Garrett's free throw with 45 seconds remaining provided the Jazz with a 39-33 advantage, but a lay-up by Jamaal Payne and a rebound follow by Elliott Heim cut the Jazz' lead to 39-37. The Suns regained possession with 4 seconds to play, but could not get off a good shot. Irizarry supplemented Mequanint's output with 14 points and Ravi Rajoo scored 4. Payne led the Suns with 12 points and White had 11.

The Lakers took a big step toward securing the National Division title by storming back from a 16-11 half-time deficit with a 23-2 second-half blitz and an insurmountable 34-18 lead. Brandon Turner and Prince Sakyi sandwiched lay-ups around Troy Bailey's 3-pointer to open the second half and the Lakers never let up until the game was out of reach. Andre Gaughan led a spirited last-ditch rally for the Sixers but had too much ground to make up. Sakyi led the Lakers with 18 points, Bailey added 7 and Turner 6. Gaughan and Marz Carty scored 10 apiece for the Sixers and Brandon Payne had 8.

The Sixers took advantage of 4 technical foul shot opportunities in the last few seconds to escape with the 4-point win. The Sixers sank only two field goals in the second half, but scored their last 8 points of the game from the foul line. Brandon Payne was high man for the Sixers with 11 points, while Andre Gaughan and Tyron Meadows each had 8. David Puckett scored a game-high 15 points to lead thr Bulls, Alex Jalajel had 7 and Akin Wilks 6.

The Suns used aggressive defense and strong rebounding to earn the win and even their record at 5-5. J.C. Cummins was instrumental in the Suns' offense by penetrating the Knick defense and dishing to teammates for close-in baskets. Jamaal Payne was high scorer for the Suns with 13 points, Jermel Payne added 8 and Elliott Heim 6. Cummins and Alex White had 4 apiece. Ismael Ramirez led the Knicks with 10 points, Randy Smith had 8, Terry Lee 7 and Connor Murray 5.

In a battle between two Division leaders, defense was at playoff intensity and neither team could gain a commanding lead. Brandon Turner came through with a baseline jumper and a rebound follow, together with a runner in the lane by Prince Sakyi, to hold off the Blazers in the closing two minutes. Matt Thorton kept the Blazers within a basket down the stretch by nailing four consecutive free throws [9-for-10 for the game] and a jumper. Sakyi led all scorers with 14 points for the Lakers, Scott Patterson contributed 7 and Jared Flowers 6. Thornton led the Blazers with 13 points, D'Trevian Strozier had 11 and Carl Napper 6.

The Jazz led most of the game on solid defense and 3-point accuracy, but were finally done in when the Lakers nailed four 3-pointer of their own without a miss in the last 6 minutes of play. The Jazz held a 39-33 lead after Pablo Irizarry nailed one of his five treys. Scott Patterson answered with the Lakers' first three-pointer of the game. After Nick DeFelice scored on a drive for the Laekrs and Derek Obeldobel converted two free throws for the Jazz, Troy Bailey tied the score at 41 with a patented line-drive trey, then gave the Lakers their first lead of the game at 44-41 with another trey on their next trip down the floor. Moments later Patterson's second 3-pointer stretched the Laker lead to 6 and his jumper just inside the 3-point line made it 49-41 Lakers, and the Jazz could muster only one more trey as time wound down. Patterson and Prince Sakyi, whose determined drives to the hoop kept the Lakers in contention until the 3-pointer barrage,led the Lakers with 16 points apiece and Bailey had 7. Irizarry led the Jazz with 16 and Dagmawi Mequanint scored 15.

After the Celtics wiped out an early 10-4 deficit to take a 15-10 lead, the game settled into a consistent pattern. The Celtics would open up a lead of 7 points or so, look like they were ready to put the game on ice, and the Blazers would claw their way back into contention, falling just short when a 3-pointer at the horn bounced off the rim. The Celtics stretched a 19-17 half-time advantage to 35-29 on Bjorn Rulloda's 3-point play. D'Trevian Strozier's trey cut that lead in half. The Celtics made it 39-32 on Josh Edward's rebound floow and a break-away by Rulloda. But Carl Napper answered with another trey for the Blazers and Strozier scored on a drive to make it a 39-37 game. Michael Butz then rebounded his own shot in traffic, and wound up with a 3-point play to finally give the Celtics a big enough lead. Rulloda paced the Celtics with 14 points, Butts had 11 and Edwards 8. Strozier led the Blazers with a game-high 19 points, Matt Thornton had 6 and Napper 5.

The Blazers played one man short, and faced aggressive double-teaming defense the entire game, but nevertheless prevailed in a hard-fought game. Matt Thornton produced 27 points for the Blazers on a variety of contested lay-ups and jumpers in the paint. D'Trevian Strozier with 16 points and Carl Napper with 13 provided the additional scoring, while Evan Harris, though scoring only one point, was instrumental in working the boards for the Blazers. [A trey by Napper in the first half was the only Blazer basket that came from outside the 3-point line.] David Puckett, on fire early, led the Bulls with 15 points while Akin Wilks turned in a strong second-half effort with 12 points. The nip-and-tuck first half ended with the Bulls on top 27-26. The Blazers scored the first 9 points of the second half to grab a 35-27 lead, but the Bulls responded with a 14-2 blitz to a 41-37 advantage, giving the undermanned Blazers every opportunity to wilt. However, a bucket by Thornton finally stopped the bleeding, then Strozier converted 3 of 4 from the free throw line, and two more buckets by Thornton put the Blazers back on top at 46-41 with 6 minutes to play. It was a battle to the wire after that. The Blazers still led 50-45 when Mikose King and Alex Jalajel brought the Bulls back to within one, and after two more free throws by Strozier, baskets by Puckett and Cameron Freeman nosed the Bulls in front at 53-52. Strozier's drive into the paint put the Blazers ahead at 54-53, Harris added his free throw, and Thornton closed out the scoring with a steal and a lay-up as time expired.

The Celtics and Knicks battled to a 26-26 firt-half tie, and the teams exchanged the lead numerous times down the stretch until Michael Butts' lay-up for the Celtics knotted the score at 45-all and Steven Avalos scored on a rebound to put the Celtics in front for good. Bjorn Rulloda sparked a second-half rally that gave the Celtics a 36-29 lead midway of the second-half, but Kevin Somoza led an answering rally for the Knicks which put his team ahead at 41-40. The Knicks still led 45-43 when Butts and Avalos connected for the Celtics, and Josh Edwards went 4-for-4 from the line to ice the game. Butts led the Celtics with 16 points, Rulloda had 11 and Edwards 8. Avalos and Derek Becka had 6 apiece. Somoza was high man for the Knicks with 16 points, Randy Smith had 12, Connor Murray 9, and Ismael Ramirez 7 along with numerous assists.

In a tough defense-oriented battle, the Sixers were able to build leads of up to 9 points, but could never quite shake the Lakers, dropping behind briefly by a point before mounting an 8-0 run to settle matters. The Sixers led at the break by 25-20, and extended the lead to 9 points on buckets by Marz Carty and Andre Gaughan to open the second half. Troy Bailey's 3-pointer for the Lakers and close-in baskets by Brandon Turner and Tyre Draper closed the gap to 29-27,and when Scott Patterson converted a lay-up on a feed from Prince Sakyi, the Lakers pulled into a 33-32 lead. That set the stage for the Sixer's closing rally, consisting of two baskets by Carty and one each by Jose Hernandez and Cameron Burke. Both teams had balanced scoring attacks. Carty led the Sixers with 14 points, and six other scored, including Brandon Payne with 7 and Burke with 6. All eight Lakers scored, led by Patterson with 9 and Bailey with 8.

The Suns trailed by 3-to-5 points for much of the game, but finally gained a tie at 29-all on J.C. Cummins' second 3-pointer of the game, pulled in front on Jamaal Payne's lay-up, and held off the Jazz the rest of the way. The Suns led 23-20 at the half and doubled the margin on Pablo Irrizary's trey to open the second-half scoring. Irizarry nailed another 3-pointer in the last minute to get the Jazz within 37-36 with 45 seconds remaining, but that proved to be the final basket of the game. Cummins led the Suns with a game-high 14 points, Payne had 10, and Jermel Payne added 8. Irrizary led the Jazz with 12 points, all from behind the arc, and Jalen Garrett scored 10.

The Celtics crusied to a 29-17 half-time lead, and quickly built it to 34-17 in the opening minutes of the second half. But momentum totally reversed at that point, as the Bulls went on a 13-0 run, started by Akin Wilks' baseline jumper and featuring 6 points by Alex Jalajel and a 3-pointer by David Puckett. Josh Edwards' layup for the Celtics finally halted the Bulls' charge, and two buckets by Sandip Pradhan and two rebound follows by Steven Avalos game the Celtics some more breasthing room at 44-35. The Bulls weren't quite finished, however. Ervin Febus' second straight basket in the paint got the Bulls within 51-48, and after a key free throw by the Celtics' Bjorn Rulloda, Cameron Freeman's driving lay-up with 12 seconds remaining made it 52-50 Celtics. The Bulls forced a turnover with 2.2 seconds remaining, but a desperation shot from the corner missed the mark and the Celtics escaped with the win. Both teams had well-balanced scoring. Butts and Avalos led the Celtics with 11 points each, Pradhan had 9 and Edwards 6, while Rulloda, Jake Dement and Derek Carlisle contributed 5 apiece. Febus and Puckett paced the Bulls with 10 points each, Wilks had 8, Freeman and Mikose King each had 7, and Jalajel added 6.

The Sixers doubled up the Jazz by half-time at 22-11, and extended their lead to 31-17 on two driving lay-ups by Marz Carty. But two successive treys by Pablo Irrizary got the Jazz offense revved up, and a switch by the Jazz to man-to-man defense succeeded in stalling the Sixer offense. When Dagmawi Mequanint nailed a rainbow three from the corner, the Jazz had closed to within 33-31 with 6 minutes to play. Then it was Brandon Payne to the rescue for the Sixers. On a missed Sixer free throw, Payne flew across the lane for an acrobatic tip-in to make it 35-31. After Derek Obeldobel scored on a turn-around shot in the lane, Payne scored on another offensive rebound for a 37-33 Sixers lead. The Jazz had taken their best shot, and the Sixers closed out the game with an 8-2 finish. Carty led all scorers with 16 points, while Payne and Tyron Meadow notched 11 apiece for the Sixers. Irrizary led the Jazz with 11 points, David King added 8, and Mequanint and Jalen Garrett had 6 each.

The Knicks trailed or tied until well into the second half, but buckets by Kewvin Somoza and Terry Lee gave them a 33-29 lead at the 12-minute mark, which they never quite relinquished. Connor Murray's 3-pointer extended the lead to 36-31, and when Ismael Ramirez's driving lay-up put the Knicks ahead by 42-35, the game seemed under control. But Matt Thornton hit a 3-pointer for the Blazers, D'Trevian Strozier drove for two, Sean Cardenas hit a baseline jumper, and fianlly Teague Peck scored on a rebound follow to knot the score at 44. But the Knicks survived at the free throw line as Somoza and Lee each made one, and Strozier could convert only one of two for the Blazers after being fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining. Lee was high man for the Knicks with 15 points, Randy Smith had 9, Ramirez 8 and Somoza 7. Strozier led the Blazers with 15 points, three players had 6 apiece -- Cardenas, Peck and Johan Acosta, while Thornton and Carl Napper each scored 5.

The Lakers used a barrage of 3-pointers to hold the Suns at bay and and secure the double-digit win. Scott Patterson delivered a 3-pointer as the first-half horn sounded to give the Lakers their first comfortable lead at 15-8, and Troy Bailey nailed one to open the second half. Bailey hit three treys overall, Patterson had two and Santiago Valda added another. The Suns stayed competitive with a stingy defense but couldn't muster enough offense to turn the tide. Bailey led the Lakers in scoring with 9 points, Patterson had 8 and Nick DeFelice 7. Elliott Heim had a game-high 10 points for the Suns and Jamaal Payne added 6.

The Blazers remained the only unbeaten team in the Senior League, as they were almost perfect from the free throw line in the closing minutes of a game played at break-neck speed. The Blazers led 31-28 at half-time and still held a 3-point advantage at 50-47 entering crunch time. Matt Thornton's 3-point play [steal, lay-up, free throw] doubled the Blazer lead to 53-47, at which point D'Trevian Strozier took over at the foul line. Marz Carty would drive for a Sixer score and Strozier would answer with two free throws for the Blazers as the Sixers committed clock-stopping fouls. In all, Strozier was 9-for-10 from the line in the closing minutes and 12-for-14 for the game. Strozier was high man for the Blazers with 20 points, Thornton tallied 19, Carl Napper added 10 on timely mid-range shots from the corners, and Sean Cardenas had 7. Carty led all scorers with 25 points for the Sixers, followed by Brandon Payne with 9, Jeremy Brown with 8 and Tyron Meadows with 7.

It was either good defense or ice-cold shooting, or a little of both, but the first half ended wtih the Celtics up 14-6. The Suns came out strong in the second half, slicing the Celtic lead to 18-15 on an Aaron Hawkins trey and Jamaal Payne's lay-up. But the Celtics scored the next 11 points of the game, featuring Bjorn Rulloda's three-point play and two buckets in the paint by Steven Avalos. Rulloda led all scorers with 16 points, Josh Edwards added 9 for the Celtics and Avalos had 6. Garrett McGehee was high man for the Suns with 8 points and Payne had 6.

Accurate shooting from behind the arc was a principal key to the Knicks victory, as both teams played tight interior defense. Floor general Terry Lee nailed three of the Knicks five 3-pointers; Ismael Ramirez and Kevin Somoza hit the others. The Knicks held a 4-point lead at half-time, but Lee opened the second half with a trey and Ramirez added his a couple of trips later to give the Knicks a commanding 33-20 lead. Dagmawi Mequanint got the Jazz back on track by working inside to score in the paint or draw fouls, but the Knicks maintained a safe lead with 6-of-9 shooting from the free throw line down the stretch. Lee paced the Knicks with a game-high 16 points, Ramirez had 7 and Randy Smith 6. Mequanint led the Jazz with 11 points and seven other Jazz' socred between 2 and 5 apiece.

For nearly three quarters of the game the teams were never separated by more than 4 points. When Davonte Johnson-Craig knotted the score at 33 with a 3-pointer for the Bulls, it looked like the lead could go back and forth to the final horn. But Troy Bailey quickly answered with a trey for the Lakers, Brandon Turner scored a layup, and Scott Patterson converted a conventional 3-point play, and suddenly the Lakers were up by 8. That proved the start of a 17-0 run, and only a closing flurry by the Bulls made the final score relatively close. Patterson was high man for the Lakers with 14 points, Nick DeFelice added 10 and Bailey 8. Filimon Zeraye led the Bulls with 10 points, followed by Mikose King with 9 and Nicholas Haselius with 6.

The Suns discovered a running game coupled with strong defensive rebounding, and claimed their first win of the season. J.C. Cummins and Derrick Toohey spearheaded the Suns' fast break, while Jermel and Jamaal Payne and Elliott Heim were strong on the boards. The Suns started hot, jumping to a quick 12-5 lead, but the Bulls closed to within 19-16 by half-time. Cameron Freeman scored on a drive and two free throws to give the Bulls a brief 20-19 lead to open the second half. A bucket by Jermel Payne together with a medium range jumper and 3-pointer by Aaron Hawkins restored the lead to the Suns at 26-20. After Akin Wilks' two buckets for the Bulls shaved that lead to 26-24, the Suns got their fast break in overdrive and built a 37-26 advantage with 5 minutes to play. Jermel Payne led the Suns with 16 points, Jamaal Payne added 8 and Hawkins 5. Devonte Johson-Craig led the Bulls with 11 points, David Puckett had 9 and Freeman 8.

The Celtics prevailed in a defensive struggle, with Michael Butts carrying the scoring load in the first half and Bjorn Rulloda contributing some acrobatic layups to account for most of the Celtics second-half points. Butts tallied 11 of his 14 points in the first half to stake the Celtics to a 20-19 lead while Prince Sakyi kept the Lakers in contention. The score was tied at 22, 24 and 29 in the second half, but Rulloda's two driving lay-ups gave the Celtics just enough breathing room at 33-29 with 4:25 to play. The only basket from that point was scored by the Lakers' Scott Patterson on a rebound follow, and the Celtics survived. Aside from stingy defense, the score was held down by poor foul shooting by both teams. The Lakers were 4-for-14 for the game and the Celtics 3-for-15. In addition to Butts 14 points, Rulloda had 10 and Sandip Pradhan had 4 for the Celtics. Sakyi led the Lakers with 10 and Troy Bailey had 7.

The Sixers came out firing and looked to be in line for a comfortable win with a 28-16 half-time lead. They still led 30-18 when the tide began to turn. After Ismael Ramirez converted two free throws, he nailed a 3-pointer on the Knicks next trip down the floor. That spark ignited a volley of threes--two by Terry Lee and one by Connor Murray, which suddenly put the Knicks in front at 32-30. Marz Carty put a stop to that run with a driving lay-up for the Sixers, but the Knicks stayed hot and pulled out to a 40-33 advantage on close-in buckets by Ramirez and Randy Smith and another trey by Lee. Carty continued to work inside for baskets or foul shots for the Sixers, and Cameron Burke knotted the score at 40 with a follow shot. The teams traded foul shots as time ticked away, and the Knicks led 44-43 with 23 seconds to play with the Sixers in possession. Carty penetrated the lane under heavy pressure and scored the basket to give the Sixers a 45-44 lead with 8 seconds left. Then it was up to the Knicks' Lee. He took the inbounds pass, drove into the lane and buried a short jumper as time expired: 46-45 Knicks at the finish. Lee led the Knicks with 18 points, Ramirez had 7 and Luke McNulty 6. Alex Monaco added 5 points, along with a number of rebounds against taller opponents. Carty had a game-high 20 points for the Sixers, Burke had 10 and Andre Gaughan 6.

The Blazers jumped to sizable leads in both halves, only to see the Jazz fight back to even. But Johan Acosta came through with two buckets in the paint in the last 2 minutes and the Blazers held on. Both teams played tough defense and utilized balanced scoring attacks. Acosta, with 10 points, was the only player in double figures. Teague Peck had 9 points for the Blazers, Matt Thornton 8 and D'Trevian Strozier 7. Pablo Irizarry tallied 9 points for the Jazz, Dagmawi Mequanint had 8 and David King 6.

The Lakers fought through the Knicks pressure defense down the stretch and rode a late rally to a hard-fought victory. Troy Bailey's 3-pointer as the first-half horn sounded got the Lakers to with one point at 22-23 entering the final half. But the Knicks bounced back with Terry Lee driving to the hoop and Randy Smith working the offensive boards, and took a 38-32 lead on Ismael Ramirez' 3-pointer. But buckets by Santiago Valda and Scott Patterson and two coast-to-coast drives by Nick deFelice got the Lakers within one point again. Two more scores by Patterson and Tyre Draper put the Lakers in front for good. Prince Sakyi was high man in the balanced Lakers attack with 11 points, deFelice had 10 and Bailey 9. Smith had a game-high 14 points for the Knicks, Lee added 9 and Alex Monaco 7. Ariel Ramirez had 6 points for the Knicks before sustaining a leg injury that will likely sideline him for the season.

Trailing by a point, Pablo Irizarry was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt with 8 seconds remaining. He nailed all three free throws to give the Jazz the win in a game that was nip-and-tuck throughout. The Jazz were cold at the outset and trailed 17-11 at half-time. Brandon Abban converted a couple of close-in shots and two free throws in the second period to finally get the Jazz even at 25. From that point the teams essentially traded baskets. Mikose King's basket gave the Bulls a 28-26 lead but Dagmawi Mequanint knocked down two free throws to knot the score again. Irizarry's 3-pointer from the corner put the Jazz in front at 33-30, but David Puckett's two free throws and Akin Wilks' short jumper gave the Bulls a 34-33 lead, setting up Irizarry's clutch winning free throws. Irizarry led the Jazz with 10 points, Abban had 7 and Mequanint 6. Puckett was high man for the Bulls followed by Wilks with 6.

The Sixers closed the first half on an 18-3 run, and maintained a 10-point lead during most of the second half. Game-high scorer Marz Carty contributed as much to the Sixers' cause with assists as with scoring, and Andre Gaughan provided effective floor leadership. Two consecutive 3-pointers by Derek Becka gave the Celtics brief hope in the second half, but they were matched by Brandon Payne's two treys, and a flurry of baskets by Carty iced the game. Carty finished with 18 points, Gaughan added 16 and Payne 13. Bjorn Rulloda paced the Celtics with 15 points. Michael Butts had 8 and Becka 6.

In a game of scoring streaks, the Blazers had one more than the Suns. The Blazers opened with a 23-2 blitz behind D'Trevian Strozier's 12-point outburst. But the Suns went on a 16-0 run of their own that stretched into opening minutes of the second half. Strozier finally ended that run with a short jumper, Teague Peck hit two quick buckets and the Blazers were back in command. Strozier tallied 16 points for the game, Peck had 10 as did Johan Acosata for the Blazers. Elliott Heim had 9 points for the Suns and Derek Toohey added 8.

The Blazers outscored the Bulls 28-10 over the last 10 minutes of the game as D'Trevian Strozier could not be stopped from getting to the hoop while Teague Peck and Matt Thornton controlled the boards at both ends of the court. The Blazers led early on, but Cameron Freeman scored 6 straight points for the Bulls, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to narrow the Blazers half-time lead to 18-17. Alex Jalajel hit two consecutive treys to open a 24-19 Bulls' lead as the second half got under way. It was still 28-25 Bulls when the Blazers suddenly took charge. Strozier converted one of his many driving layups and Miller Irwin hit a 3-pointer to put the Blazers back on top for good. Strozier had a game-high 20 points for the Blazers, Thornton had 11 and Peck 7. Jalajel led the Bulls with 10 points, while Freeman, Mikose King and David Puckett all had 8.

The Sixers took an early 7-5 lead on two buckets by Martin Membreno and one by Tyron Meadows, but once the Lakers nosed in front the Sixers could never quite catch them again, although the game was close to the finish. The Sixers got within 3 points on Cameron Burke's fourth consecutive bucket, but Santiago Valda nailed a 3-pointer for the Lakers to double their lead to 6 points. After that, Prince Sakyi scored the Lakers' next 8 points, repeatedly getting into the lane to convert contested layups. Meadows and Burke kept the Sixers close but couldn't overcome Sakyi's efforts. All Lakers players scored in the game, led by Sakyi's 16 points. Tyre Draper added 6 and Scott Patterson 5. Burke led the Sixers with 14 points and Adre Gaughan had 7. Meadows and Membreno each had 6.

The Jazz kept the Suns from getting the ball inside with any consistency, and used a balanced scoring attack to take a 21-10 half-time lead and maintain a comfortable lead for most of the game. Derk Toohey's short jumper got the Suns to within 23-18, but Pablo Irizarry and Dagmawi Mequanint answered quickly for the Jazz, and the Suns never threatened again. Mequanint tallied 11 points for the Jazz, Irizarry 10, Jalen Garrett 7 and Julian Ferriol 6. Elliott Heim was high man for the Suns with 8 points.

In the opening game of the 2011-12 Senior League season, both teams played as in mid-season form. The Knicks controlled the first half, leading 31-27 at the break on the outside shooting of Ismael and Ariel Ramirez and the penetration of Terry Lee. Josh Edwards and Steven Avalos notched quick baskets to get the Celtics even moments into the second half, and Bjorn Rulloda and Michael Butts took over from there. Rulloda was virtually unstoppable slashing to the basket on fast breaks and Butts wasa a force around the boards. Rulloda led all scorers with 19 points, Butts added 11 and Edwards 10. Ariel Ramirez paced the Knicks with 15 points while Lee and Connor Murray scored 8 apiece.