Anderson drops 45 in 2OT win

Merriam-Webster defines dominant as "commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others."

Anyone who was in attendance at the iS8/Nike Tip-Off Classic Sunday witnessed a dominant performance by Kyle Anderson. "Commanding" his teammates to feed him the ball and "controlling" his team's offense down the stretch resulted in Anderson and the Playaz Club "prevailing over all others" in a 100-94 double overtime thriller against the Rising Stars.

Early on, it didn't look too good for the Playaz Club squad. They started off the game down 8-0 after showing up to the game late. They began with just 5 players, which did not include Anderson. Meanwhile, the Rising Stars capitalized on the Playaz Club's misfortune. They connected on 4 three pointers in the 1st quarter alone, with their star player Mike Florin contributing 3 of his own. It looked as though the Rising Stars were on their way to a blow out after one, as they held a 22-10 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter would begin the similar to how the first quarter did - with the Rising Stars on a 8-1 run. Sensing the game getting a bit out of reach, Playaz Club Coach Kyle Anderson Sr. called for time. Anderson's son entered the game after that and would prove to be the catalyst throughout the game. After the time, the Playaz Club responded with an 8-0 run of their own, capitalizing off a Rising Star misses and scoring in transition. Anderson Jr. would be aggressive immediately upon entrance, calling out isolation plays and getting to the line. His buzzer beater just before the half would pull Playaz Club within 6.

Anderson, a 6'6" Junior forward, would continue his one-man show in the 3rd, showing off his ball handling skills and getting to the basket with ease. Anderson would get a little help from teammate Justin Bailey's back-to-back 3's would gives the Playaz Club a 47-46 lead - their first of the game. Playaz Club would continue to stroke from down town, as Charles Oliver's 3 would extend their lead to 54-48. After the 3rd, Playaz Club would cling on to a 54-52 lead.

Both teams stars would show lead their teams late. Florin would continue to let it fly from deep, while Anderson would continue to mesmerize both the Rising Star defenders and the spectators on hand. As the see-saw battle continued, Florin's 3 with 39 ticks left would put his team up 1. Oliver would respond with a 3 of his own that would put the Playaz Club back up 2. Then as the buzzer sounded, the Rising Star's Evan Conti made a hard drive to the basket and laid the ball up to bring the game into overtime.

After another back and forth battle in overtime, the Playaz Club fell short of a game winning shot and the teams would duel it out for a 2nd overtime. Anderson's skill would continue to be too much for the Rising Stars.

The Stars threw double-team coverage at Anderson, but somehow he'd still get his shot up and in as well as get to the line and make late free-throws. Florin would try to keep his team in it, scoring an and-one with 1:18 to bring the Stars within 3. He'd finish with 31, but that's as close as the Rising Stars would get in the 2nd OT as Anderson and his game high 45 points would prove to be too much in the end. Conti along with Chris Dorgler would chip in for the Rising Stars with 20 a piece.

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