Bank of Nebraska takes the Summer League Title for the 2nd straight year. Ben Holling, Klaye Rowe, Jarred Anderson, Cody Levinson, Wes Wilkinson, Justin Carter, James Parrott (Photo courtesy of Jason Isaacson)
Former Nebraska Cornhusker Wes Wilkinson scored 32 points, nine of which came during the final 2:27 of the second half to lead Bank of Nebraska to a second consecutive Metro Summer League Title. They walked away with a 94-89 win over Cape Truck Accessories at the Omaha Sports Academy on Tuesday night.
The defending champs earned their spot in the title game after dispatching a short-handed Slice squad 86-72 in the semifinals. Slice was playing without Metro Basketball League First Team performer Jelani Johnson. Despite missing their best player, Slice, which features mostly former Bellevue University players, were able to hang with the heavily favored Bank of Nebraska team until former Creighton star Justin Carter took the game over midway through the second half. Carter finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists. His extra gear was too much for Slice’s wing players to handle in the second half. Former Bellevue Bruin Klaye Rowe chipped in 17 points and eight boards to help clinch his team’s spot in the title game.
While the defending champs were pulling away from Slice it appeared as if UNO Alumni was on pace to meet them in the title game. The former Mavericks used a 12-4 run early in the second half to open up a 57-41 lead over Cape Truck Acc. Cape made an adjustment to be more physical on the defensive end and more patient on the offense side. It started paying off immediately as UNO’s lead disappeared.
A free throw with eight seconds left gave UNO a 72-71 lead. Cape’s Marcus Franklin took the inbounds pass, drove all the way down into the paint and kicked it out to a wide open Ben Imig on the wing. Imig rose up and sank the game-winning three-pointer as the horn sounded. The Cape players and fans went crazy, but the moment had a time limit as they had to turn right around and head to Court #4 for the championship game.
The first half of this clash between undefeated teams see-sawed back and forth the majority of the period before Bank of Nebraska opened up an eight-point halftime lead. Cape came out swinging in the second half, and for the most of the half looked like the team that wanted it more. Three-pointers by Avery Langford and Ben Imig gave Cape an 85-81 lead with 2:27 remaining. After a timeout, Bank of Nebraska regrouped and took the game over. It started with a steal and breakaway dunk by James Parrott. Then Wilkinson hit a three from the right wing to give the defending champs an 86-85 lead. A driving layup by Justin Carter and emphatic dunk by Wilkinson sealed the deal on Bank of Nebraska’s second consecutive title. The quartet of Wilkinson, Carter, Parrott, and Rowe combined for 81 points and 20 rebounds. The two-time champs wrapped up a perfect 9-0 season, and have not lost a game in the last two summer sessions.
Semifinal hero Ben Imig finished with 18 points and Marcus Franklin had 17 in defeat for Cape Truck Accessories.
Metro League Tournament Results
First Round:
No Sweat, No Glory def. Higgins Weatherguard, Inc. (84-69)
Stangs def. Free ‘N Clean (69-61)
Mavs def. ABIDE (forfeit)
Shanks Law Firm def. Chris Carder Agency (83-68)
Second Round:
Bank of Nebraska def. No Sweat, No Glory (78-58)
Thompson Basketball Camp def. Judd Knispel Agency (113-95)
Slice def. Narmi Group @ Baird (107-88)
Paragas Law Firm def. Stangs (88-70)
Cape Truck Accessories def. Mavs (86-58)
Andy’s Lawn & Landscape def. Walentine, O’Toole, McQuillan & Gordon (102-76)
Zurlo’s def. EQ School of Hair Design (90-85)
UNO Alumni def. Shanks Law Firm (96-79)
Quarterfinals:
Bank of Nebraska def. Thompson Basketball Camp (126-112)
Slice def. Paragas Law Firm (72-70)
Cape Truck Accessories def. Andy’s Lawn & Landscape (77-61)
UNO Alumni def. Zurlo’s (89-75)
Semifinals:
Bank of Nebraska def. Slice (86-72)
Cape Truck Accessories def. UNO Alumni (74-72)
Finals:
Bank of Nebraska def. Cape Truck Accessories (94-89)
Metro League Tournament MVP: Wes Wilkinson (Bank of Nebraska)
Metro Basketball League First Team:
- G – Mike Jenkins (UNO Alumni)
- G – Grant Gibbs (W.O.M.G.)
- G – Jelani Johnson (Slice)
- G – Justin Carter (Bank of Nebraska)
- C – Wes Wilkinson (Bank of Nebraska)
Metro Basketball League Second Team:
- G – Austin Chatman (EQ School of Hair Design)
- G – Isaiah Zierden (Zurlo’s)
- G – Ben Imig (Cape Truck Accessories)
- F – Klaye Rowe (Bank of Nebraska)
- C – John Turek
Metro Basketball League Third Team:
- G – C.J. Carter (Thompson Basketball Camp)
- G – Marcus Franklin (Cape Truck Accessories)
- G – James Parrott (Bank of Nebraska)
- F – Donald Jones (Slice)
- F – Jason Dourisseau (Andy’s Lawn & Landscape)
- C – Will Artino (Paragas Law Firm)
Final Summer League Standings (including postseason)
- Bank of Nebraska (9-0)
- Cape Truck Acc. (8-1)
- UNO Alumni (7-1)
- Slice (5-3)
- Walentine, O’Toole, McQuillan & Gordon (4-2)
- EQ School of Hair Design (3-3)
- Judd Knispel Agency (3-3)
- Higgins Weatherguard, Inc. (3-3)
- Thompson Basketball Camp (3-4)
- Zurlo’s (3-4)
- Andy’s Lawn & Landscape (3-4)
- Paragas Law Firm (3-4)
- Stangs (3-4)
- Narmi Group @ Baird (2-4)
- Free ‘N Clean (2-4)
- Mavs (2-5)
- Shanks Law Firm (2-5)
- No Sweat, No Glory (2-5)
- Chris Carder Agency (1-5)
- ABIDE (1-5)