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From the Pacific City Courier
Men's Team Stuns Lamoni
95X win denies favorites a no-loss tournament record; women loose close game to Myrtannia
Myrtannia - Before the game, starting point guard Ryan Powell told his team he felt this could be the last chance 95X had to make an impact before the single-elimination tournament round.
That, combined with a change in the starting lineup to start Daniel Lancaster as center and bring Logan Lombard off the bench, resulted in an 91-86 surprise over the formerly unbeaten tournament favorites.
Powell lead by example, scoring 27 points including the game-clinching 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go; and also dished 11 assists.
"We felt like we had to win this one," said Duke Woodstock, who added 12 points, fueling the fourth-quarter charge to win the game.
Lamoni led most of the way, leading at halftime 45-37. Two minutes into the third quarter, backup point guard Vince Vermont hit two surprise back-to-back 3-pointers to bring 95X to within four, which is where they stayed most of the quarter, until a foul on Blake Belmont gave Lamoni a 3-point play to end scoring for the quarter.
That's when, according to head coach Frank Lester, he reminded the team during the huddle, that although the tournament round was coming up, they won't stand a chance unless they focus on the here and now and take each game as it comes, rather then dream of the next round.
With Belmont in foul trouble and Mike Greeley hitting a shooting slump in the second quarter, he reluctantly put Lan Claxter - who's seen limited minutes in the tournament - on the floor along with Eric Burnside, Kyle Hawthorne, Lombard, and Woodstock. Although he was monitoring the game closely, he was resting the starters for later in the quarter.
Opening the quarter, Claxter passed to Woodstock, who hit a 15-foot shot. Later, it would be Claxter who'd contribute to keeping the team in check with the Hawks in the early portion of the fourth. Claxter himself would end the game with 9 points, all in the fourth.
"I thank Coach Lester for putting me in the game," he remarked afterwards.
Halfway through the quarter, the starters gradually came back into the game and started to take care of business; key shots by Harold Steele, Carl Holgate and Powell put 95X in the lead with a minute and a half to go.
On the next trip down the floor, with the game tied, Woodstock, who played all but a portion of the second quarter, missed two free throws after scoring 6 in the quarter, but an offensive rebound by Lancaster gave posession back to 'X. Lester immediately called a time out and replaced Woodstock with... Claxter.
"Don't let the team down," he was overheard saying to Claxter as he went to enter the game.
"Good job, Duke," he then commented to Woodstock on his way to the bench, realizing he had left him in the game a minute too long.
Play continued, and Claxter was fouled while attempting a 10-foot shot which was missed. He then hit both free throws to put 95X up by two.
95X would lead by this amount until 3 seconds left, when Powell was left open, and hit a 3-point shot that put the team up by five, and for good.
After a Lamoni time out and a hurried, missed two-point attempt, the 95X team celebrated right then and there.
"This proves it can be done, and we can be the team to do it!" Powell cheered into the XBN reporters' microphone.
The win gives 95X a 3-2 record going into their last game in group play, a rematch with a Milchaman team they barely defeated two nights ago.
Lamoni falls to 4-1, putting the top seed for the tournament round up for grabs, most likely between hosts Myrtannia and Az-cz. |
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OOC: Wow, alot happened over New Year's.
Az-cz Scroll
Myrtannia
Dr-J
Gnomes press there way to the top of the charts
The Gnomes have proven to have learned alot from their first time around in the AOBC. Last time around all they could do was give Lamoni a tough match on their way to a quick exit from the tournament. This time around they've been one of the best teams in the tournament.
After their opening win they gave the hosts a very tough battle in their second match, falling just short by five points. Then they faced unanked Ereeland, who they beat by ten points. Then came match day four and the stunning upset of the tournament, to that point.
The Gnomes were again playing the hosts and again it was a back and forth affair. The Gnomes jumped out quickly on the Suns to a 26-17 lead after a quarter, but the Suns then dominated the middle two quarters. They just pounded the Gnome's inside for basket after basket and free throw after free throw, eventually opening up a 15 point lead going into the final quarter, 84-69. But the Gnomes just went to work in the final quarter as the Myrtannian legs gave out. Myrtannia traded baskets for the first two shots to move to 88-74 but then the Gnomes blew the game open. They scored the next 17 points, aided by 4 steals from their press to move ahead 91-88. The Suns battled back to tie the game at 93, but the Gnomes scored five consecutive points to move back to a five point lead. The Suns nailed a three at the buzzer, but the Gnomes had still pulled off the big upset.
Their next match they Nedalia again, where they simply drilled the Nedalians. They were simply on fire from three point land and had the press clicking on all cylinders in the first three quarters. They caused an amazing 33 Nedalian turnovers in three quarters as they moved to a 80-47 lead. In the last quarter the Nedalians fought back for pride to a final result of 90-79 but the Pink & Green were victorious again.
The Gnomes have discovered how to overcome their lack of height beautifully this tournament and even have an outside shot at the top seed for the knockout rounds, and are almost certainly going to be a top three team. It all depends on the results of their final matches. Az-cz play Ereeland, but have the worst point differential. Myrtannia play Nedalia, and have the second best, and Lamoni plays Bazalonia. Bazalonia is probably the best of the three and might allow the others to catch Lamoni, but that's a small probability. Expect the Gnomes to beat Ereeland in the final match, but remain the third seed. Still the Gnomes have exceeded all expectations and could be a danger in the knockout rounds, a huge accomplishment for a team so soundly drubbed last time in Neu Amerika. Amazingly the basketball team has done better than the impressive soccer team. Of course one wonders what would be if the former powers of Andossa Se Mitrin Vega and Dorian & Sonya were here, but we won't look a gift horse in the mouth. |
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Errish Vanguard - Sporting Section
Programming Blackout Prevents Vieweship of Games
AOBC 4 has not been particularly kind to the teams from our new Republic. Neither team has a winning record, or even a .500 record for that matter. Yet that would be fine with the folks back home if there hadn't been a programming blackout in most parts of Ereeland. The blackout has been attributed to Errish Republican Army maneuvers and weather balloons. In the few regions of Ereeland that did get a transmission, the games were pre-empted for a syndicated screening of 'Nun Vengeance 5: Nun of the Above'.
Meanwhile, in Mrytannia, the Ereeland Green Wave has struggled to make any real progress in their first outing. So far their only win was against the only team with a worse point differential than them, Nedalia. Defense has been lax at best as opponents have been driving right through Green Wave players.
"It's been ugly, and it might become even uglier," said coach Meddaugh, "These Gnomes are very dangerous."
The Gnomes would be the national team from Az-Cz, who have gone from doormat to power since their last AORBC appearance. Their only defeat was to Myrtannia, and they've been playing extremely well. Any outside chance Ereeland has of victory rests with Zachary Zwilling, who's been the lone bright spot for the Green Wave. Going into the Az-Cz game, Zwilling is averaging nearly 22 points a game, as well as an astounding 92% shooting rate for treys.
Our lassies, however, are doing a bit better. After losing three consecutive games, they faced a tough challenge from a newly spirited Bazalonia team. In a close matchup, the two nations traded leads 12 times, and the game was tied at 71 apiece with just under a minute remaining. That was when Daphne Angelo hit a trey to make it 74-71, followed by a steal by Elva Pressnell on the next posession. Angelo recieved a pass and hit another trey, while being fouled by the Bazalonian defender. Converting the free throw, she made it 78-71 for Ereeland, and the Shamrocks held off the Bazettes for win number two.
"We're back on track now, but no one says our last group game is going to be easy. Ninety five X has played well, and they beat us last time. We've got to attack them and play our tempo of basketball to win," Gordon Bob, the Shamrocks' coach said.
A win over 95X would give Ereeland second place in the group, but a rematch with 95X in the knockouts may be unavoidable. At least now, the feeds from Myrtannia have cleared up, so the folks at home can actually watch their teams play. Though some of them might rather watch the Nun Vengeance marathon. |
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"Dude"
"Yeh"
"We Won!"
"That's impossible"
"No it isn't we have guards and they control the tempo of the game."
"I don't believe it"
"See for yourself"
"Milchama 105- Bazalonia 93"
"Wow!"
"Well we overcame the international conspiracy!"
"There was any internat-"
"SHUT UP! We have to have an excuse!"
"Right, sorry sir."
"Good, now go eat the meat of the beat of doom"
"Ok."
"Well how much do Bazalonia suck?"
"I have no idea but it must be awful"
"Yeh to lose to Milchama, god, that's terrible"
"Who did well?"
"Ford, 42 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, Triple double"
"What does that mean?"
"Don't worry about it"
"Are you sure? That sounds important"
"Oh shut up"
"Ok, anybody else"
"No not really, Ford is a beast though"
"What type of beast?"
"A human beast"
"Human's aren't beasts"
"Oh shut up"
"Tell me what type of beast"
"A blind cyclops"
"Ok, if he's blind then how is he good at basketball?"
"SHUT UP! IT'S NOT IMPORTANT YOU IDIOT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NOW!"
"Please don't"
*bang*
"You got me laughing on that one!! I told you."
This post has been edited by Milchama on Jan 2 2007, 05:10 PM |
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From the University City News Daily
Women's AOBC Team Loses to Myrtannia
Niniisto, Myrtannia - The final score was 103-100, but in reality, Mark Walters' 95X Women's Atlantian Oceania Basketball Championship Team might as well of lost by 50.
"This is basketball - sometimes the final score doesn't tell the entire story," he commented.
Home court advantage for the Dryads, along with the severe height mismatch between the two teams meant a 20-point lead throughout most of the game for Myrtannia, until the fourth quarter, when the Dryad bench played most of the minutes against 95X's run-down starters, barely mustering air balls and missing easy scoring opportunities.
Next up for the 95X Women (2-3): Ereeland (2-3) at Elimico Court, Niniisto.
TV: XBN - Channel 12 in University City, tape-delayed to be broadcast upon conclusion of the Men's game against Milchama
And, from 95X Broadcasting Weekly
95X AOBC Games a Slam-Dunk for XBN, National Broadcasting
Farelton-based XBN, who traded it's regular low-budget programming for more broadcasts of 95X's AOBC (Atlantian Oceania Basketball Championship) games, seems to have found a profitable diversion to its usually low ratings.
Since 95X doesn't allow any of the participants to profit or receive anything in return for their efforts, and did not have to sign any sort of contract to purchase broadcasting rights, all advertising dollars will be retained within the network to increase its profits.
"My shareholders are extremely happy," says C. Ray Tube, XBN CEO, "about both the dollars and the ratings."
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away in Pacific City, President and CEO of National Broadcasting, Jason Barbur (also Head of State on the 95X Board of Directors), says things have never been better since his company is offering radio broadcasts of the games.
"We put the games on what had been our weakest station, Station 95.9," says Barbur. "The station has never generated more calls to its talk programs. Even one of the most conservative hosts on the station, Lewis Lewiston, whose show is usually just before the games start, puts down the politics for an hour to take sports calls."
Both say they have even been personally thanked for what the community thinks is a 'public service.'
"In reality, it's all about the dollars and sense," says Tube. "We would never televise a live government meeting about faded road signs or the National Sales Tax being too high. Nobody watches that, and nobody would advertise. We're offering a real choice to the public, one that allows them to forget about their own problems for a few hours." |
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Loss to 95X, win against Baz, we're in the knockouts!
The Hawks retained their 1 seed in group A today against the rather poorly performing Bazalonian team; defeating them 105-91. The win places Lamoni into jolly good position in the knockouts, where they will face 8th seed Nedalia. While we think that this will be a Lamonian victory, we will not underestimate Nedalia; especially since our loss to 95X, who we had defeated earlier in this AOBC. This is a team with a driven focus, and that is to give Hugh Humber a second AOBC trophy before he retires.
Before we move on to the next subject, we felt that we would like to show you the group A standings to this point.
Group A W L PF PA Diff
Lamoni 5 1 580 520 +60
95X 4 2 516 505 +11
Bazalonia 2 4 538 581 -43
Milchama 1 5 519 547 -28
The true importance of the match against Bazalonia (from the Lamonian point of view) was whether Lamoni would maintain first seed with a win (and we did) or if we would maintain it with point differential alone. The Hawks have been ripping up the court with a +60 point differential, and show no signs of stopping; the loss against 95X not withstanding. True, there are two other teams in group B with 5-1 records, but we have also retained the 1st overall seed due to our amazing point differential. This has allowed us a very good pick for the first round of the knockouts. Indeed, it shall be entertaining to see just how the other teams make out in their matches.
Lamoni - 105
Bazalonia - 91 |
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"What is going on in your minds?" chided the coach of the men's team. It was a rhetorical question. "You faced Lamoni, a team that we have come up against every AORBC. How can you just let them take a 12 point win? Your skills are as good, if not better than they ever been. What is not alright is up here." said the coach as he pointed to his head. "Get up here right and we still have a chance. We face 95-X, A team that we should be able to easily deal with, yet they flogged us. And this is not league anymore. These are the knockout stages, if we lose we become the laughing stock of the basketball community. If we win. We at least manage to salvage some pride."
The coach took a break from his rant to drink some Bazola, the teams corporate sponser, before. "However, what in fact I am doing. Is scheduling a grueling schedule, however, not the normal grueling schedule. In fact you will not see the basketball court until our next game against 95-X."
And the coach was right, they failed to see the inside of a basketball arena all the time they where in Myrtannia before the Quarter Finals.
They spent time, sitting quietly doing some logic puzzles, strangely quite a few basketball player where Sudoku nuts. Other times they spent at a movie they hired the place out to see the classic Bazalonian comedy, The Prop. They were taken down to reasonbly nearby Myrtannian beach and went for a snorkel. In fact one thing had been finished they went to the next, this included afew educational things such as going to see various museums, and historical places. The days where jammed pack and each one while totally enjoyable caused the team to flake out once they returned back to their Hotel.
............
The women on the other hand, went business as normal, they faced Myrtannia, a team that they had managed to take to overtime but failed to beat. This was going to be hard but the team for some inexplicable reason had a glimmer of hope. This totally disregarded their 97- 76 point trouncing by Myrtannia but still the girls failed to let this stop them from at least dreaming of a win. Eitherway. They were going to be one of the top 4 in the competition, to bad the competition only has 4 competitors.
Most of the team took this as experience, they now had some matches under their belt and had faced Myrtannia twice already. Their only hope is that they can knowck out the obvious favourites with an underdog upset win. The Bazalonian crowd that had started to arrive in Myrtannia were hopping to see this but, they were underdogs and that was for a reason. In the end all they hoped for was not another embarrasing performance and to make a competition out of the match with Myrtannia. |
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Eating A Bazalope Burger |
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Az-cz Scroll
Myrtannia
Dr-J
Gnomes cruise into the knockout rounds
In their final match before the knockout rounds the Gnomes were looking to up their seeding against Ereeland. While Ereeland has acquitted themselves well so far, they weren't able to upset the Gnomes in the rematch.
The Pink & Green came out quite sluggish to start the game and the Ereeland fans thought they might be able to pull off the upset. There was no interior denial in the early match as the Gnomes were just getting brutalized in side. Barthez and Knee both picked up two fouls inside and the Ereeland players were scoring nearly at will as they score an amazing 41 points in the first quarter, 37 in the paint to take a 41-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Things didn't get any better in the second quarter as the Ereeland players were still controlling the game. They were still able to get the ball down low and were keeping the ball well protected. Without the fast break to start up their offense the Gnomes were struggling to find points and Ereeland extended their lead to 69-43 going in to the half.
One would've expected that if the Gnomes were going to rally they'd have to start making a come back immediately at the start of the second half, but that's not what happened. The Ereelanders continued to control the game for the first four minutes of the third quarter, pushing their lead into the thirties, eventually going up by as many as 34 at 82-48. Most countries fans would leave at this point, but the Az-cz fans are known as die hards for a reason and stayed to cheer their team.
And they were rewarded with an incredible turnaround. The Ereelands legs could be seen deadening and all of sudden passes that worked earlier were steals and led to baskets the other way. By the end of the quarter the Gnomes had cut their defecit down to 90-63.
And then the quarter of horror started for Ereeland. The Robbers lived up to their reputation stealing everything in sight and preventing Ereeland from getting any good shots. The Gnomes scored the first 22 points in the quarter, cutting the deficit down to 90-85 before Ereeland even found a point.
And even then it came from the free throw line. In fact Ereeland didn't make a shot from the field the entire fourth quarter. After making those two free throws, the Gnomes rattled off the next seven points to tie the game up. Ereeland made two more free throws to move briefly back ahead at 94-92. The Gnomes made a 3 to take the lead and then Ereeland got the ball down low for one last foul that got them two free throws to take their last lead of the game at 96-95. The Gnomes then rattled off 10 straight points to end the game. All told the carnage of the final quarter was Az-cz scoring 42 while holding Ereeland to 6 points, all from free throws.
While the late surge earned them the win, the early struggles meant that they couldn't make up any ground and go into the knockouts as the three seed. They'll face Milchama in the next round, a matchup where the Gnomes will be favored. Considering Ereeland's horrible collapse there seems almost no likelihood of them winning, so for the Gnomes to make the finals they must almost certainly overcome two seed hosts Myrtannia in a third match. If that game should occur expect a beauty as the first two games were absolute thrillers. |
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Senator in Training |
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From the Pacific City Courier
Men Win, Women Lose Going into Second Round
Elimination round of tournament begins
Myrtannia - In another close game against Milchama, The 95X Men finished Atlantian Oceania Basketball Championship group play with an 83-81 win. Ryan Powell again led the way, scoring 22; with Duke Woodstock's 19 not far behind.
Otherwise, the game was not terribly spetacular. Each team scored almost every time up and down the floor in the fourth quarter, with 95X gaining the advantage early in the quarter, capitalizing on missed opportunities by their Milchaman opponents.
The win gave the team an impressive 4-2 record, the highest among the three first-time participants in the AOBC.
Coach Frank Lester reminded the team, which is now ranked #4 and will play #5 Bazalonia in the first game, that the stakes are much higher.
"One loss, and we're on the amphibious bus home," he says to an excited team.
"Seriously," he tells the Courier after addressing the team, "they're just excited to make it this far. I remind them that so did the number eight team."
The latest line from the Pacific City Grand Casino is 95X by six. Across the region, a mixed response, some siding with 'the new team with a chance;' others with with the Dribbling Bazalopes and its prior tournament experience, desipte a losing record and a 1-1 split with 95X in the group round.
"I don't know, and I don't care," comments Powell about 95X's chances. "May the team that plays the best win."
The women dropped their final group game, 85-81 against Ereeland. Both teams will play each other again in the Women's Semi-Finals, which begins the next night.
Ashley Maranz, who scored 12 in the loss, said after the game she still felt it was anyone's chance.
Kristin Hazel led 95X scorers with 18.
The women are deep underdogs in for the tournament, having only won two out of six games thus far, and the critics expect the team to exit the tournament before the final game. |
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Lamoni moves on!
In the first round of the AOBC IV knockouts, the Hawks defeated Nedalia by the tune of 98 to 92. The win was a close one, but we'll take a close win over a loss any day. The win also means that Lamoni will face Bazalonia next, a team that the Hawks defeated by 12 points in their last matchup.
If Lamoni defeats Bazalonia again, the experts are now telling us that they expect to see a Lamoni vs. Az-Cz final. Given what they have said about there being a Lamoni vs. Myrtannia final, you can take that with a grain of salt, but it does indeed seem likely. Both Lamoni and Az-Cz have identical 6-1 records, but Lamoni has more AOBC experience than their Az-Cz counterparts. The Hawks also have the "Win another one for Hugh" factor on their side; and it seems to be working for them, with Lamoni recovering from it's single loss rather well.
Nedalia never led in this match, but it was close until the final buzzer sounded. In our opinion, this is not bad for a group of unamed men. The Hawks even shook hands with the unnamed players after the final buzzer in a show of good sportsmanship, wishing the Nedalians well after they left for their home nation from Myrtannia; where the AOBC is being held.
Lamoni - 98
Nedalia - 92 |
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[21:28:50] [INFO] Attempting to connect to “irc.baza.net.bz”. Use /cancel to abort.
[21:28:51] [INFO] Connecting to irc://irc.baza.net.bz/ (irc://irc.baza.net.bz/)...
[21:28:55] === *** Looking up your hostname...
[21:28:56] === *** Found your hostname
[21:28:57] === Welcome to the BazaNet IRC Network
B_Dribbler!@113.23.2.112
[21:28:59] === Joining Channel "#AORBC"
[21:29:09] =-= Topic for #AORBC is “General AORBC Discussion Only for match discusion use the following channels '#Lam_Ned', '#Baz_95X','#Ere_Myr' & '#Az-_Mil. Thank you”
[21:29:44] <B_Dribbler> Omfg, That Bazalonia 95-X match was teh 1337!!11!11onwone!111!!111!!!
[21:29:44] <B_Ball_GOD> Yo, N00b. Head to #Baz_95X!
[21:30:21] <B_Ball_GOD> Yeah, I mean why bother. Stupid reffing, stupid calls, and stupid games.
[21:30:48] <Basket_Legend> You can't really blame teh Myrtannians for that surely
[21:31:21] <B_Ball_GOD> That's What you think, this is the worst AORBC EVA!!!!!one
[21:31:22] === Leaving Channel "#AORBC"
[21:31:41] === Joining Channel "#Baz_95X"
[21:32:01] =-= Topic for #Baz_95X is "Bazalonia - 95-X AORBC Quarter-Final. Bazalonia 105, 95-C 94 FT. Dribbling Bazalopes through to Semi's”
[21:32:14] <B_Dribbler> Omfg, That Bazalonia 95-X match was teh 1337!!11!11onwone!111!!111!!!
[21:32:57] *B_Ball_GOD kills B_Dribbler for teh suckage
[21:33:42] <B_Dribbler> Go, find a life, tard.
[21:34:06] <B_Ball_GOD> Takes one to know one.
[21:34:34] <B_Dribbler> w/e. It was a goof game though
[21:34:46] <B_Dribbler> *good
[21:35:11] <BazaFan> Was there ever any doubt?
[21:35:34] <BazaFan> Bazalonia = teh 1337.
[21:36:21] <B_Ball_GOD> 21:35:40] <BazaFan> Bazalonia = teh 1337. <--- Wtf?! This is BASKETBALL! We suck!
[21:37:41] <B_Dribbler> It's true T_T
[21:38:10] <B_Dribbler> 95-X just suck more 
[21:38:17] <B_Ball_GOD> ...
[21:38:33] <B_Dribbler> What?
[21:39:02] <B_Ball_GOD> perhaps you're not such a n00b.
[21:39:21] <B_Dribbler> uh, thanks. Who do we face next?
[21:39:47] <BazaFan> LAMONI HAWKS!
[21:40:18] <B_Dribbler> We're boned...
[21:40:27] <B_Ball_GOD> oh, yeah!
[21:41:24] <BazaFan> Pffft. It's people like you that cause all the problems.
[21:41:46] <B_Dribbler> What about the Girls? Still playing the Dryads.
[21:41:51] <B_Ball_GOD> Yep.
[21:42:16] <B_Dribbler> Well, gotta go. bye ah.
[21:42:22] === Leaving Channel "#Baz_95X"
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Eating A Bazalope Burger |
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95X - uh - *nicely* congratulates Bazalonia on their victory and wishes them the best of luck against Lamoni in the next game. |
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Az-cz Scroll
Myrtannia
Dr-J
Gnomes roll over Milchama
The Gnomes advanced to their first ever knockout round match after being eliminated in the group stages last time around. And this time they made a huge statement with a crushing 101-73 pounding of Milchama.
The game was over early with the Warriors clearly unprepared for the Az-cz press. Not having faced the Gnomes in the group stage and not havin much experience they weren't ready for the trapping press of the Gnomes, as they quickly fell behind. The Gnomes scored the first seven points and jumped out to a 15-3 lead to start the game. Although Milchama battled back a bit to cut the score to 18-10 but they only had a brief flash as the Pink & Green bounced back with more offense to move ahead 29-14 at the end of one.
The second quarter was no better as the Gnomes continued to press and trap the Warriors into the ground and rolled ahead to a 50-30 halftime lead, based on the strength of Gy-Pt dropping in 12 in the second quarter and 22 for the first half.
In the third quarter the Gnomes continued to roll with Rn-Mndez cutting the Milchama team to pieces from long range. He dropped in six three pointers as the Gnomes doubled their lead to 40 points moving ahead 85-45.
In the fourth quarter the Gnomes called off their press and took out their starters in allowing Milchama to rally a bit to a slightly more respectable scoreline, but the Gnomes still advanced quite easily.
After their match they watched the Myrtannia match expecting to see the Suns again, but Ereeland played their hearts out and upset the hosts 91-87. With that victory the Gnomes now become the favorites against Ereeland, who they've beaten twice. Although one would expect Ereeland to have spent all their energy in their game against Myrtannia they already reversed one set of futility, and will be looking to do that to the Gnomes as well. |
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Az-cz Scroll
Myrtannia
Dr-J
Gnomes survive upset bug, move on to face unexpected opponent
Coming into the knockout stages there were three squads with five wins and one loss. The Pink & Green, the hosts Myrtannia, and Lamoni, home of superman Hugh Humber. Considering the results of the group stage all three were expected to advance to the semifinals and for two of them to meet for the championship. However Myrtannia was upset by Ereeland in the first round and Bazalonia proved their was life in their team still with a heart-stopping 87-86 win over Lamoni. So only the Gnomes lived up to their group stage play, advancing past Ereeland in a very difficult match.
Ereeland came into the match confident after having eliminated the hosts and dead set on getting revenge for the two losses on their horrendous collapse to end the group stage. And for a while they seemed on pace to get it, once again getting off to a quick start by pounding the Gnomes down low. Ereeland was once again having success in getting the ball into the post and were able to shoot out to a 31-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was much more back and forth with the Gnomes rallying back to make the score 39-32 in favor of Ereeland before watching the Ereeland team push the lead back to 48-37 at the half. Despite being down by 11 points you could see the exertion of the Ereeland team starting to kick in.
And then in the third quarter Ereeland really did themselves in. Trying what seemed to be an attempt to bury the Gnomes once and for all they really really went for it in the third quarter. And they did succeed in extending their lead, pouring in 30 points to just 15 for the Robbers, making the score 78-52 going into the final quarter, but all that did was set up another incredible Gnomes come back.
Once again the start of the fourth quarter. And this time the start was even more painful. The press really clicked in and the Gnomes scored an unbelievable 26 unanswered points to start the quarter, jumping up to a 78-78 tie. Then the game turned into a back and forth match. Ereeland hit a deuce to pull ahead, then Rn-Mndez answered back with a three to move the Gnomes to their first lead since scoring the opening basket. Ereeland answered back with a pair of free throws, then Az-cz scored four straight to give themselves a bit of a cushion at 85-82. However Ereeland still had fight drilling a three to tie the game back up. However Gy-Pt calmy responded by cutting to the hoop and getting fouled on his way in to earn a three point play. The Gnomes came up with a defensive stop and Barthez was quickly fouled. He made only one of the two free throws, but Gy-Pt hounded Ereeland into a travelling violation. This time they got the ball to Rn-Mndez who iced two free throws to put the game away for Az-cz. Ereeland made a three at the buzzer, but the Gnomes had made the impossible happen again.
Ereeland must be kicking themselves for a missed opportunity. With Lamoni losing in the early match Ereeland definitely would've had a shot at a tile if they held on, but instead we get to face our friends from Bazalonia. We met them last championship, where they put a crushing on us. While the roster is unchanged from last time around, the team is much different. This time we come in as favorites. However the Bazalonian team is coming together and it will be anybody's championship to win. |
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Senator in Training |
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