Milbank 3-Peats @ City Is Mine

BRONX, NY – On Saturday at the Gauchos Gym in front of a crowd that included NBA star Carmelo Anthony, Milbank pulled off the improbable, once again winning the City Is Mine Championship. After disseminating Vsonary team in the semifinal round, Milbank beat back a hard charging United Brooklyn squad, 85 – 74

In the first semifinal game, The Program took an early lead paced by Malachi Smith '21 and sophomore Zion Cruz ‘21. United Brooklyn charged back to knot the game at 9 points led by Marcus Burnett ’20 with big man Josh Gray ’20 cleaning up in the paint.

Nate Tabor, Sterling Jones ‘21 and Smith regained the lead for The Program but Burnett helped wrestle it back for United Brooklyn who held a 36 – 33 at the half

In the second half, United Brooklyn extended its advantage to 12 points as Kadary Richmond ‘20 stepped up. The Program tried to close the gap but with 1:30 left in regulation, they still trailed by 8 points and would get no closer.

Burnett led United Brooklyn with 25 points with Gray and Richmond adding 15 points and 10 points respectively. Cruz was high man for The Program with 16 point with Smith contributing 14 points.

The second semifinal contest between the back-to-back defending champions and Vsonary was competitive until suddenly it wasn’t. The duo of Zed Key ‘20 in the paint and R.J. Davis ‘20 from everywhere else set the tone late in the opening half but that wasn’t the case from the onset of the game.

Shawn Fulcher ‘21 more than carried the load for Vsonary from the tip-off and with help from Hassan Diarra ‘20 they lead early on. Relentless shot blocking and dominance in the paint by Key along with an avalanche of scoring from Davis, Jaylen Murray '20 and DeMarco Watson gave Milbank a late surge that propelled them to a 44 – 27 lead at the midway point.

Vsonary tried to stay relevant in the second half as Fulcher ani Shemani got to the rim. Unable to contain Key proved to be Vsonary’s downfall as Milbank’s lead grew to 21 points with 3:15 left to play.

Key led the way for Milbank with 24 points with Davis adding 22 points. Fulcher led all Vsonary scoring with 22 points.

The duo of Davis and Key reignited in the championship round giving Milbank the early lead but pushback United Brooklyn signaled that beat United Brooklyn would not be a foregone conclusion. Scoring by Richmond along with baskets by Michael Graham and Femi Odukale '20 quickly closed the deficit early in the opening half.

The dynamic quickly changed as Milbank went nuclear from three point range. Threes by Dior Davis, Murray and R.J. Davis punted the defending champs a 15 point lead with 5 minutes left in the half. United Brooklyn to its credit made some head way but trailed 42 – 32 as the second half got underway.

Milbank maintained a double-digit lead throughout the top of the second half and pulled to within 6 points with 8 minutes remaining in regulation as the momentum shifted towards Brooklyn. Watson instrumental in swing the pendulum back in Milbank’s favor along with powerful play by Dylan Wusu ‘20.

Back in front by 13 with 3 minutes left, Milbank completed the triad of back-to-back-to-back championships.