McGinn Law wins Omaha Metro Summer League
Thursday night at the Omaha Sports Academy, McGinn Law walked away with an 82-78 win, an undefeated 8-0 record and the Omaha Metro Summer Basketball League Title.
Barley’s had an early 8 point lead half way through the first half, but McGinn Law made a comeback and tied it at 29 before halftime as the first half became a defensive struggle. It is odd to see as in summer league you usually do not see a lot of defense happening. However, the second half was a different story as scoring went in spurts and almost doubled their first half output. It was turning into a Ryan Anderson vs. Charles Richardson show through the early parts of the second half.
Anderson, for McGinn Law, was his usual self where he was talking things up. However he started directing the offense and creating shots for himself and teammates. On the other side, Richardson, for Barleys, struggled with his shot in the first half, but then went on a streak in the second half scoring 18 straight points for Barley’s. The game was tied at 53 with 9 minutes to go.
This is when the game turned for Barley’s. Richardson was fouled hard by Anderson and Richardson had to take himself out of the game with a slight ankle injury and some cramping. During the stretch he was out of the game, McGinn found itself up 9 points with under 5 minutes to go and they thought they were in control. Barley’s then unleashed a full court press, caused a few turnovers, and turned them into points. Tyler Albers capped off the comeback to tie things up at 75 with just about a minute to go.
McGinn Law then hit two consecutive baskets to put them up by four. Again it was Albers hitting a big three-pointer for Barley’s to get them within 1. Nick Svehla then hit 1 of 2 free throws for McGinn to put them up by 2. On Barley’s ensuing possession, Richardson lost the ball around half court and Anderson was fouled. Although Anderson missed both free throws, , McGinn Law got the rebound and this time Anderson hit both free throws to seal the win for McGinn Law.
An exciting end to a fun Summer League Season.
All Metro Summer League Teams were announced. Here are the teams:
1st Team
Mike Jenkins, UNO Grad
Charles Richardson, Nebraska Grad
Ryan Anderson, Nebraska Grad
Wayne Runnels, Creighton Senior
Jason Dourisseau, Nebraska Grad
Wes Wilkinson, Nebraska Grad
Will Artino, Creighton Freshman
Bruce Chubick, Nebraska Grad
Kenny Lawson, Creighton Senior
John Turek, Nebraska Grad
2nd Team
Jelani Johnson, Bellevue Junior
Antoine Young, Creighton Junior
Bryce Johnson, Bellevue Grad
Jahenns Manigat, Creighton Freshman
Mitch Albers, UNO Junior
Donald Jones, Bellevue Junior
Drake Beranek, Nebraska Senior
Martane Freeman, Colorado Grad
Tola Dada, UNO Grad
Nick Svehla, UNK Grad
Semi-Final Round
#1 McGinn Law 83, #12 ABIDE Ministries 70
This one was over early as McGinn Law got themselves an early 20 point lead and never really let up. One gameplan for McGinn was to double, triple, or even quadruple team John Turek every time he got the ball. However, he was about the only one who could do anything for ABIDE Ministries. Darryl Ashford did not play until the second half and he hit some shots late, but it was not enough.
#2 Barleys 68, #3 Bellevue, 65
This game could easily have been the game of the night. Bellevue was up most of the game about 9 to 12 points, but Barley’s had a three-point barrage to get back into the game. Barley’s was up 2 with 36 seconds left. Bellevue’s Donald Jones missed both free throws to tie the game. Luckily for them, Chad Spady missed the 1-and-1 on the other end for Barley’s and Bellevue was able to work the ball on what appeared to be the final possession. Avery Tyler hit an off-balanced floater to tie the game at 65, seemingly sending the game to overtime, but there was still one second left on the clock.
After a timeout, Spady threw the ball the length of the court to a streaking Tyler Albers in the corner who kind of did a running hook shot from the three-point line that went in the basket as the buzzer sounded and Barley’s escaped to advance to the final.