The first Monday night action for the Metro Summer League took place on Monday after the first three sessions on Thursday. Most players were back and there was a lot of action going on each court. Most of the top teams continued to roll, but there were a few surprises too. Here is what happened on Monday night at the Omaha Sports Academy.
Judd Knispel Agency 123, Rooferees 93
The score may not necessarily indicate this, but this was the game of the night. Anthony Tolliver of the Detroit Pistons is in town this week running his yearly camp and took the time to join Nick Bahe and the Judd Knispel team on Monday night. It turned out this became an All-Creighton team with Tolliver, Bahe, Cole Huff, Marcus Foster, Jahenns Manigat and Matt Dorwart all together. And they were firing on all cylinders.
The teams went back and forth in the first half. The Rooferees were without mainstay Justin Carter as it was learned earlier in the day he was offered a summer league spot with the Phoenix Suns. Austin Chatman, Martin Krampelj and James Parrott tried to pick up Carter’s scoring. Parrott jumped (literally) out of the gates early scoring on a barrage of three pointers and dunks to score 26 points in the first half. However, Judd Knispel Agency went into halftime with a 57-54 lead.
Parrott continued his scoring in the second half finishing with about 44 points, but for Tolliver and crew, everyone on that Bluejay team was scoring having probably three players scoring 30 apiece. Three-ball after three-ball went down for them between Manigat, Huff, Foster, and Tolliver. Tolliver even went on a streak of his own scoring 11 straight points on his own. The next thing you knew, the score was 106-89 with 5:26 left and the game was pretty much over. Krampelj had several nice dunks for the Rooferees in the second half and the incoming freshman is looking more and more confident out on the court. Both teams are now 2-2 in pool play.
Andy’s Lawncare 87, EQ School of Hair 68
This game was moved to one of the early games on Monday night to account for an additional game added to the schedule. Andy’s got out to a quick lead in the first half behind Scot Abels from behind the arc and John Turek working his way in the middle. They went into the half with a 40-31 lead.
Mo Watson and EQ School of hair struggled from the field in the first half. Watson only had 2 points before halftime. Geoffrey Groselle after a couple week absence returned and it was good seeing him go up against the veteran Turek. Andy’s would not give up their lead and actually extended it in the second half. Groselle finished with 20 points, while Watson came on late to score 11 second half points, but EQ left with a loss and the defending champs continue to roll and stay undefeated. EQ fell to 1-3 in pool play.
Bank of Nebraska 102, Narmi Group @ Baird 93
Toby Hegner rejoined Bank of Nebraska on Monday night. BofN was down a few people again, but continue to know how to win. On the other side, the newest Bluejay Malik Albert made his summer league debut. Both teams came out of the gates in the first half answering each other’s baskets. While Bank of Nebraska kept a slight lead throughout the first half, the Narmi Group did get a quick 57-56 lead right before half, but BofN was able to score going into halftime with a 59-57 lead.
BofN would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game, but it was a battle between both teams throughout the rest of the game as BofN stays undefeated with the 102-93 win.
Albert looked pretty good out there. There were some observations out there that he is kind of skinny compared to the other players, but he has some great skills with the ball and his jumper including hitting four three-pointers. It will be interesting to see how he fits into the rotation for Greg McDermott’s squad this year. Creighton incoming walk-on Alex O’Neill scored 15 and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Paragas Law 107, OFWF 91
Paragas Law is cooking on all cylinders now with the solid core of Ronnie Harrell, Zach Hanson, Antoine Young, and Kendall Patton. They were able to share the ball nicely to go into the half up 60-51.
OFWF walked out on Monday night still looking for that first win of the summer, but they are looking better out there. Justin Patton had several nice blocks and defended prettywell one-on-one in the post. Marlon Stewart continued showing his strength with some nice plays including a 360 one-handed dunk late in the game. However, Paragas Law pulled away and evened their record at 2-2 for summer play.
Crusaders 77, Winning Mentality 61
The Crusaders played their first of two games in the early session and jumped out early on Winning Mentality with a 42-28 lead at the half. Both teams went back and forth in the second half and the Crusaders never relinquished their lead and rolled for the 77-61 victory.
UNO Alumni 68, Capehart Sales 64
UNO Alumni was all over Capehart Sales early. Capehart (Midlands) didn’t play last Thursday in the league, so they were playing their first of two games Monday night. Maybe it was nerves because of coach Todd Eisner in attendance, but UNO Alumni went into half with a 35-20 lead.
But almost like clockwork this summer, UNO Alumni gave away their lead and were only up 63-60 with :44 seconds remaining. However, timely free throws saved them in this game and they were able to sneak out with the 68-64 victory.
Crusaders 67, Capehart Sales 63
Both teams were playing their second game of the night and again Capehart had a tough first half. The Crusaders jumped out to almost a 20 point lead and went into halftime with a 40-33 lead. Capehart jumped back into it and it was a close game the rest of the way including a three point game with 12 seconds left. But the Crusaders (UNK) made the free throws needed and put the game just out of reach. Capehart went 0-2 on the night.
BD 83, Tostensen 65
Tostensen didn’t have the benefit of Ryan Anderson like they did the past two weeks and it showed. BD was only up 37-34 at halftime, but Jelani Johnson and crew pulled away in the second half and went to 4-0 with the 83-65 victory.
Shanks Law Firm 65, APEX Foster Care 57
This was probably considered the upset of the night. After getting blown out by 30 points two weeks ago, Shanks has worked on getting their game back to where it needed to be. They rebounded and gave Andy’s all they wanted last Thursday and on Monday things came together. I had to make a double-take at halftime when I saw that Shanks was up 37-18 at the break. APEX (Peru St.) made a run in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as they fall to 4-1 for the summer and Shanks gets their first win of the summer
NE HS Hoops 98, ABIDE Network 94
NE HS Hoops continues their roll in a hard fought 98-94 victory. This game was physical throughout and there was a lot of talking going on between teams. NE HS Hoops was up 47-37 at the half and held on in second as both teams worked hard. Future Bluejay Khyri Thomas dropped 21 while Thik Bol had 18 in the win. NE HS Hoops moves to 4-0 while ABIDE falls to 0-4.