Written by Jaspreet Grewal
Team Brampton’s 3-Point Ball Proved to be Too Much for CIA/Bounce
It was a resounding atmosphere at Ryerson’s Kerr Hall Monday night for the first day of the OVO Bounce tournament. Despite a monstrous scoring night from the Phoenix Sun’s Tyler Ennis, CIA/Bounce found themselves on the short end of 100-94 loss against Team Brampton. Shaquille Keith was the high-man for Team Brampton leading the way with 26 points. It was evident from the get-go that CIA/Bounce was looking to push the pace in hopes of creating easy scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes of action. Ennis was firing on all cylinders in quarter number one, hitting on shots from almost every imaginable spot on the court while also playing the role of point guard and finding his teammates. After a 21-20 first quarter lead for CIA/Bounce, it seemed Ennis and company had things under control. Much to their dismay, CIA/Bounce found themselves on the receiving end of a three point barrage courtesy of Team Brampton in the second quarter. Keith and his teammates couldn’t do much in the paint initially, almost certainly because of the presence that 7,5″ center Sim Bhullar brought forward; therefore, the long range shot seemed liked the next best strategy. Despite Ennis keeping up his consistent play, and the Cleveland Cavalier’s Anthony Bennett heating up, Team Brampton kept firing away from long range until the quarter’s end, where they saw themselves with a 50-44 first half lead. The third quarter was almost identical to the second for Team Brampton. Although CIA/Bounce was pushing the pace even harder, while also ramping it up on the defensive end, Team Brampton’s long range success coupled with their ability to attack the rim (Bhullar didn’t see the floor much in the second half) created havoc for Bennett and his teammates- where they saw the deficit grow to eleven, 77-66. In the final ten minutes of regulation, there seemed to be a notable shift in intensity level on the part of both teams. It was a back-and-forth affair.The energy on the floor was reciprocated sufficiently by the fervent crowd all night, particularly near the latter end of the game when the lead was cut down to four.
CIA/Bounce was fierce in their attempt at a comeback- cutting the lead down to two at one point, 96-94, behind the late game heroics of Ennis – but Team Brampton ultimately proved to be too much from beyond the arc as they held on for the six point victory, 100-94.
Team OVO’s NBA Experience Proves to be Too Much to Overcome for Smile Work Basketball(SWB)
If Monday’s first game with the likes of Anthony Bennett, Tyler Ennis and Sim Bhullar wasn’t enough to feed your basketball craving, then the following game between Team OVO and SWB – where Amir Johnson, Brandon Jennings, and Myck Kabongo helped their squad get the 98-91 victory- would have filled the void sufficiently. Taking place after the game between CIA/Bounce and Team Brampton, the intensity and overall atmosphere of the final game was spectacular. The contest started off as a block party for Johnson as he swatted anything and everything that came his way- while at the same time contributing on the offensive end with an array buckets on the inside. M.A.D.E. Toronto Pro Am MVP, Morgan Lewis, was also on full force for Team OVO on Monday night, as he knocked down a few jumpers to help his team gain a 24-21 first quarter lead. It was in the second quarter, however, where many onlookers started to anticipate a possible blow out for Team OVO. Johnson’s shot blocking and overall paint presence made it difficult for SWB to get their shots off, thus resulting in a horrid scoring quarter for the men in blue. Behind the leadership of Kabongo, the three point shooting provided by Jennings, and the dunking display put on by Lewis, Team OVO saw their lead increase from three, 24-21, to fifteen, 53-38. But it was in the second half, and more specifically, the 3rd quarter where SWB – with the help of their lightening quick guards who got to the rim at will- started to slowly chip away at the lead. Even though Jennings began heating up from long range in the 3rd, SWB kept challenging Team OVO to play defense. Evidently, the heart and hustle of SWB was enough to reduce the deficit to seven, 71-64, at the end of the quarter. In a game that saw SWB hanging on for dear life in the first half, the third quarter proved to be a redemptive ten minutes. However, that was as far as it got for SWD as they saw Team OVO seamlessly take over in the final quarter. After a series of intense and somewhat vehement events – where we saw strong emotions displayed by both coaches- Jennings and company proceeded to connect on a multitude of three point baskets in the fourth which, ultimately, diminished any chance at an SWB comeback. In the end, Team OVO’s NBA experience proved to be too much to overcome for SWB as they went home with a 98-91 victory.
It was an entertaining series of events at Kerr Hall on Monday night, Tuesday should be no different. See you there.
Written by Jaspreet Grewal
Posted by Drew Ebanks
