And then there was one. After another fast action night of play in the Omaha Metro Summer League , playing twice this week and next week, there is one undefeated team remaining in pool play. BD and NEBHSSPORTS.COM went into the evening with 4-0 records, but only one came out 5-0 against their opponents. Here is the recap from noted activity from Monday night.
Rooferees 84, BD 71
This game added even more intrigue when the Rooferees expanding roster added former Husker and Pro Jason Dourisseau to their lineup. Former Bluejay Grant Gibbs also returned to play for the evening before heading out for “The Basketball Tournament” that starts this weekend with 120Sports. But ultimately it was the play of Andre Smith that made the huge difference in this one.
The game was close early with each team taking the upper hand in the first half. BD’s James Parrott and the Rooferee’s Derek Fletcher led the way with 13 and 11 points respectively as BD went into the half with a 39-37 lead. BD took the lead at the end of the half on an errant inbounds pass that Jelani Johnson stole and easily put into the basket.
In the second half however, the Rooferees took control of the game jumping out quickly with a 14-7 run to put themselves up 51-46 with 13:30 to go. The Rooferees extended their lead to double-digits before BD’s Ben Imig hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 70-61 with 5:17 to go. But the game belonged to the Rooferees and Andre Smith. Smith came out in the second half and was involved in almost every play on both ends of the court, whether it was rebounding, playing defense, hitting the shots down low or the daggers from behind the arc down the stretch. Smith hit two key three-pointers in the final couple of minutes that sealed the victory for the Rooferees. Dylan Travis also contributed 17 points in the victory to knock off BD. BD falls to 4-1 while the Rooferees improved to 3-2, quickly on the rise.
NEBHSSPORTS.COM 98, UNO Alumni 82
NEBHSSPORTS.COM jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and seemingly cruised to another victory to get to 5-0 in pool play. Behind Khyri Thomas’ 26 points and Justin Patton’s 22 points, NEBHSSPORTS.COM was able to keep that comfortable lead throughout the first half with a 57-49 lead at the half. What will be interesting to see is how this team responds in the tournament with KJ Scott unavailable as he heads to Texas Southern. They might have an answer with Kevin Metoyer. Metoyer also contributed 16 points and 6 assists in the victory.
A bright spot for UNO Alumni was current UNO senior Marcus Tyus who looks fully healthy after a season ending injury two years ago and spent last season recovering and rehabbing. He looks ready to go for the Mavericks. The defending champs will still be in it as they always step up during tournament play.
Going Vertical 71, Narmi Group @ Baird 69
Two highly competitive teams took to the court for this one that was back and forth throughout. Narmi Group went into halftime with a 41-39 lead, but that did not last long as Going Vertical came out and took a 7 point lead early in the second half Narmi raced back with a run of their own to retake their own seven point lead. The final few minutes looked to be exciting after this happened.
.@JManigat12 taking one of his patented charges against Tre’Shawn Thurman and helping Narmi keep a 2 point lead with 3:20 to go #metrobball
— Patrick Marshall (@wildjays) July 12, 2016
The score remained a 67-65 game from that point until the score was tied at 67 with 1:28 to go. Creighton’s Ronnie Harrell was fouled and hit both free throws to put Narmi up 69-67 with 1:17 to go. Veteran Klaye Rowe returned the favor scoring the bucket close to the basket to tie things at 69 with :55 remaining. After a miss by Narmi, UNO’s Tre’Shawn Thurman gained some redemption on the charge call earlier to score the bucket underneath to put them up 71-69 with 30 seconds remaining. Again after a miss by Narmi, Justin Carter was fouled and looked to seal the game with :06 remaining. He missed both free throws setting up a final attempt by Narmi.
Jahenns Manigat, looking to be the hero again after the dramatic OT win on Thursday, took the ball and drove down the court launching a three-pointer at the buzzer that just missed. Going Vertical survives and moves to 4-1 positioning themselves as a favorite in the tournament, their only loss to NEBHSSPORTS.COM.
Judd Knispel Insurance 108, OFWF 83
This game belonged to Creighton’s Marcus Foster and Wayne State’s Matt Thomas in the runaway victory for Judd Knispel Insurance. OFWF was without Toby Hegner and Austin Hennings which limited some options for them. Foster was on fire early, scoring 15 points in the game’s first 7 minutes including 12 straight at one point. If it wasn’t Foster hitting shots it was Thomas nailing shots from behind the arc as well. Judd Knispel was up 57-41 at the half.
The second half was more of the same including some fun between Thomas and Foster:
Wayne State’s Matt Thomas playing some games on a fast break with everyone looking for alley-oop to Foster but then floating it in himself
— OmahaSummerLeague (@OMAMetroLeague) July 12, 2016
The pass was intended for Foster, but it happened to go into the basket. Foster finished with 39 points including seven 3-pointers in the victory and move to 1-5 in pool play. OFWF has lost three straight to fall to 2-3.
Shanks Law Firm 85, Bank of Nebraska 75
Shanks Law Firm (Nebraska Wesleyan Graduates) were on fire early and ran away with a very shorthanded Bank of Nebraska in the victory. Bank of Nebraska only had 4 players to start the game and it appears someone in the crowd put on a jersey and joined the team until a fifth player arrived.
The story of this game is Trey Bardsley for Shanks. The future Omaha Chargers player was on fire from behind the arc in this game hitting 11 three’s and dumping in 35 points in the victory. Shanks moves to 3-2, while Bank of Nebraska falls to 2-3.
Winning Mentality 96, EQ School of Hair Design 79
Winning Mentality continued their roll through the league after a week one loss to roll over EQ School of Hair who was shorthanded once again this week even after Mo Watson arrived halfway through the first half. Winning Mentality was up 51-33 at the half and rolling to the victory. Deverell Biggs was hot from behind the arc and their inside presence and depth wore down EQ. Winning Mentality moves to 4-1 and EQ is still looking for their first win of the summer.
Apex Foster Care 79, Regulators 68
Apex Foster Care (Peru St.) jumped out to a 36-27 halftime lead, bu the Regulators (Bellevue University grads) made a run late in the second half to cut the lead to 69-66 with 2:15 remaining, but Apex put a stop to that and scored 10 of the final 12 points to get a much needed victory and a mild upset of the Regulators.
Lopers 78, Air Force 55
The Lopers had a lead of 25 in the first half, went into half with a 44-24 lead and rolled to victory over the Offutt Air Force Base team. The Lopers move to 2-3, getting their first win since week one, while the Air Force falls to 0-5.
Pool play closes out on Thursday, July 14th with the MBL tournament starting on Monday, July 18th. For more on Monday night’s action visit the OMAMetroLeague Twitter timeline and visit the MBL mini-site.