THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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2007_Spring/Summer REC (Oakland) |
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Raptors complete destiny |
| 8/9/2007 6:00PM |
| AUGUST 5, 2007 -- When Tiger Claw withdrew from the league and left a couple remnants that picked up veteran players from past REC teams previously built by veteran Allan Kwong, the newly named Raptors became an instant favorite to win the REC, despite being saddled by Tiger Claw's single-elimination status. Meanwhile, the Young Gunners weren't quite as potent as before and were vulnerable to low shooting percentages. Bay Function made a run at it, but the Warriors was the team that stepped up. The Raptors beat the over-achieving Warriors, 58-42, to capture the REC-Oakland championship. Another hot start out of the gate helped the Raptors, taking a 20-11 early lead. The highly skilled Thien Nguyen belongs somewhere on a AAA team, as he scissored past the Warriors defense for 9 of his eventual 20 points. Alfred Kwong scored 5 of his 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the opening frame, including 4 treys. Soo Park led the Warriors with 12 points and Sonny Lam added 11, but Hoa Dang went only 1-for-9 from the field, all from downtown. Young Gunners shoot themselves out of it AUGUST 5, 2007 -- The Young Gunners' star shooting guard Vinh Nguyen got skunked, shooting 0-for-12 from the field including 0-for-7 from downtown, as the Warriors upset the Young Gunners, 39-28, to advance to the championship against the Raptors. Big man Joe Cheah didn't fare much better, going just 1-for-8 from the field. The Young Gunners combined to shoot an atrocious 8-for-47 (17%) the entire game. The Young Gunners scored just 5 in the 1st and 4 in the 3rd, not the kind of numbers that would be worthy of advancement to the championship. The Warriors didn't shoot all that much better, but Hoa Dang scored 14 points on 4-for-12 from the three-point line to lead the way. |