On Point Basketball (M.A.D.E. Pro Am ): GAME 1 Recap
Team White (First Commonwealth) Vs Team Black (The Health Institute)
(First Commonwealth defeats The Health Institute 80-65)
The game started out with little offensive flow in the half court and limited attacking of the basket. Instead both teams settled for outside shots. In the opening half First Commonwealth showed promise by trying to get out and fast break but failed to connect on some easy opportunities. The Health Institute were a much more aggressive team but couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities as well, struggling to keep pace with First Commonwealth’s speedy guard Brent Jennings who had some nice slams and jumpers on the break. Team mate Denham Brown captured the audience’s attention with buzzer-beating three to end the half as First Commonwealth led it 44-30 at the break.
In the second half ,The Health Institute struggled to find fluidity in their offense and turned the ball over numerous times. First Commonwealth took advantage of The Health Instititute’s poor offensive balance, flow and lack of transition defense by building up a twenty point lead and took full control of the game down the stretch. Jennings shooting touch simmered down a bit in the second half but he still poured in a game-high 31 points to finish the game and helped First Commonwealth pull away for the 80-65 victory for their first win of the season. Theon Reefer showed promise for The Health Institute despite the deficit, with a shooting touch of his own by adding a team-high 15 points. They fall to 0-2 on the season.
In conclusion both teams had trouble creating offense in the half court while failing to attack the basket or work it in the post consistently. But First Commonwealth’s ability to get out and run for easy scores helped them control the game. First Commonwealth were victorious despite missing Devoe Joseph and Junior Cadougan while The Health Institute could definitely have used the services of bruising forward Olu Ashaolu inside.
On Point Basketball (M.A.D.E. Pro Am ): GAME 2 Recap
Team Black (Made Men) vs Team White (On Point)
On Point with the 82-60 win
This was a battle of two undefeated teams as both squads were victorious in week 1 and showed a controlled tempo on both sides of the court to start the game. On Point showed quickness in the first half that Made Men was not able to match up to. Using their quickness they were able to beat their man off the dribble and bring suck in the help defense allowing them to pass the ball off to their teammates for easy baskets. On Point’s Jermaine Anderson completely lit up the scoreboard with his smooth jumper and his crisp handles right from the opening tip. Anderson also demonstrated leadership on the court that allowed On Point to pull away and build a consistent double-digit lead. Made Man couldn’t get anything going inside to to great defense by On Point, instead settling for long jumpers. Anderson’s scoring mentality gave On Point a sizeable 44-29 lead after the first half.
As the second half began Anderson eased up on his scoring touch and started to distribute and create for his teammates which allowed everyone to get great looks at the basket. Jehvon Shepherd answered back with points of his own for Made Men, but it wasn’t enough. To compound their shooting woes, Made Man were having difficulties rebounding the ball which led to opportunities for On Point and they capitalized winning 82-60 going away and improve to 2-0 on the season. Their defense focus was evident as they limited Richard Amardi’s effectiveness for most of the game. Made Men fall to 1-1.
Anderson, or “Rock” as he’s affectionately known, showed everyone why he was for many years the starting point guard for the Canadian Men’s National Team, scoring in handfuls and also distributing the ball. If Anderson keeps playing at the this level he could certainly walk away with the league’s MVP at the end of the season.
For more information on the M.A.D.E. Pro Am go to http://www.madebball.com or Twitter @MADETOBball
Jeremy Fernando/Drew Ebanks
