Northeast Teams Converge on iS8/Nike

SOUTH JAMAICA, NY - The best game of Saturday afternoon at the 2017 iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic was between the Ben Gordon All-Stars against the LVBR Beasts (PA). The game went down to the final few minutes before BGA was able to put together a run at the end of the game and pull away late for a well-earned 77-69 victory.

Jason Douglas-Stanley ‘18 was the man for BGA early in the contest. He opened up hot, knocking down 4 of his 6 triples, all in a row, early in the first half. Douglas wasn’t missing early on, running off screens, or just pulling up off the dribble and draining the shot. Douglas finished with a game high 30 points and was the best player in the game, carrying his team early on before everybody else got it together. They eventually did in the final period.

Speed kills, and it was the speed of BGA point guard Demetre Roberts ‘18 that finally got to LVBR late. The game was tied at 54 at the start of the 4th quarter and Roberts opened the scoring with a lay-up to put his team ahead. But it wasn’t scoring that made Roberts stand out in the final quarter. Roberts was all over the place, having in a hand in almost every BGA bucket to close the game.

LVBR’s Bryce Diehl ’19 was having a nice quarter, knocking down one of his many threes on the day plus a conventional 3-point play after scoring on a lay-up. BGA was ahead 62-61 when Diehl was called for an offensive foul trying to drive to the basket. Roberts found Chase Johnson inside for a score. After LVBR answered, Roberts sped to the rim for a lefty lay-up that began an 8-0 game clinching run.

Roberts found Johnson two more times for assists, then finished off with another dime to Douglas-Stanley. Now BGA was up comfortably, holding a 72-63 lead with under 2 minutes left in the game. They coasted the last couple minutes to get their first win of the tournament.

Roberts finished with 15 points. He had at least those four assists in the final quarter, but there is no official stat for assists at iS8. Johnson added 13 points for the winners.

LVBR was led by guard Justin Paz with 21 points. 6’10” big man Ryan Young ‘18 had 15, while Diehl finished with 13 points for the Beasts.

NE Basketball Club (NJ) started their game with a 16-0 head start because their opponent Road to Riches came late. Actually, 4 players were already there, but the other half of the team were still in transit. NE Basketball Club really started 19-0 after scoring the first 3 points of the game.

The only reason why the game was interesting was Road to Riches came all the way back and took a brief lead in the 3rd quarter. But it was too much of a burden for Road to Riches to overcome. NE Basketball Club regained the lead and prevailed with a 73-65 win.

Point guard Jaquaye James ‘18 put his stamp on the game late. James became more aggressive as the game was ending and made most of the big shots his team needed to get the win. James finished with a team high 15 points in a game that was only 3 quarters long.

Despite the game only being 3 quarters long, Road to Riches forward Jose Perez scored a game high 29 points, which is impressive. His scoring gave his team a chance and as stated before actually gave them the lead for a moment.

Fearless Tigers overcome hiccup to edge out Vikings Basketball Club, 61 -60

After arriving late and giving the Fearless Tigers a 24 – 0 advantage, the Vikings managed to overcome that deficit to lead 60 -58. With 1 second left to play, Jasiah Lewis '18 drew a foul while attempting a three-pointer and got to the free-throw line with a chance to win, lose or draw.

An inadvertent “Hold on, hold on” by a Vikings Basketball Club coach during the silence ruffled Lewis and caused him to miss the first shot but the ref called a violation and allowed him to take a do over. The senior, who led with 22 points, promptly nailed all three shots from the charity stripe for the win.

Moses Brown & 2GZs wallop Rosedale Elite, 103-71

It wasn't even fair as Brown’s 19 points laid waste to the undersized Elite squad.