THE DREAM LEAGUE
National Basketball Tournaments
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Driven 72, LA Showtime 58 |
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Driven Proves Strength of Pool Z |
| September 9, 2006 LAS VEGAS, NV -- Driven became the third of four teams to win their cross-pool game by beating LA Showtime, the top team out of Pool Y. The victory gave Driven the #3 seed heading into the tiered bracket format on Sunday. Fellow Pool Z teams 3GS and the Las Vegas Aces were seeded #1 and #4, respectively. Driven got the nod over the Aces due to their narrow 70-66 head-to-head in the first round of pool play earlier in the day. Driven had four players in double-figures, led by Ryan Cruz (#30) with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Sunny Margate (#0) with 17 points and 8 rebounds, Sean Caiola (#4) with 13 points and 4 assists, and Jeremy DelaCruz (#24) with 11 points and 4 assists. KJ Rosales (#5) further enhanced the balanced attack, dishing out 8 assists. Scott Domingo (#9) once again led LA Showtime with 22 points, mostly from inside. Ryan Reyes (#10) chipped in 14, but the rest of the Showtime offense was largely held in check. Showtime took a 25-18 lead into the 2nd quarter, then stretched it out to 32-18 before DelaCruz finally hit Driven's first bucket of the 2nd quarter with 5:05 left. Driven played near error-free for the remainder of the quarter and cut the lead to 35-34 in favor of Showtime at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Driven committed just one turnover while going 8-for-14 from floor (ironically, Cruz missed all five of his shots) and 3-for-3 from downtown on treys from DelaCruz, Caiola, and Dan Matsumara (#10). They turned the tables and went into the 4th quarter with a 58-47 lead over Showtime. Driven did not relinquish the lead as Margate pulled down 5 of his eventual 8 rebounds to seal the deal. Showtime's Ryan Sinson (#44) continued his struggles in this game, going 0-for-3 in the quarter to finish just 1-for-8 and 4 points. The balanced attack was the formula to beat LA Showtime, the eventual tournament champion. When Driven cuts down on its turnovers, its starting five of ballhandlers Caiola, Rosales, and DelaCruz along with inside playmakers Margate and Cruz could be considered as formidable as any. But what seems to separate the starting five of, say, Shootout and Driven is the maturity and experience. Shootout simply has far more experience and proven success in crunch time thus far. Of course, Showtime has burst onto the scene and with this tournament championship, proved that it can win when it matters most, even against vaunted Shootout. This was the only loss Showtime suffered during the tournament and this loss coupled with the strength of Driven's Pool Z led to Showtime's perhaps surprisingly low #5 seed. On Sunday, Driven would face the winner of #6 Arizona and #11 Island Heat, while Showtime would face #12 Jumpmen. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LA Showtime | 25 | 10 | 12 | 11 | - | 58 |
| Driven | 17 | 17 | 24 | 14 | - | 72 |
Boxscore
| LA Showtime - 58 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Rich (#32) | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Convento, Lance (#9) | 4 / 12 [0.333] | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | |
| Dalafu, Jason | DNP | ||||||||||
| Domingo, Scott | 9 / 14 [0.643] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | |
| Escueta, Jason (#42) | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Lea, Alvin | DNP | ||||||||||
| Mallo, Justin (#14) | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Reyes, Ryan (#10) | 6 / 8 [0.750] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | |
| Singson, Ryan (#44) | 1 / 8 [0.125] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Sohn, Kevin | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 23 / 49 [0.469] | 5 / 12 [0.417] | 7 / 8 [0.875] | 24 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 58 | ||
| Driven - 72 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caiola, Sean | 5 / 10 [0.500] | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | |
| Candolesas, Aries | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cruz, Ryan | 9 / 17 [0.529] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 18 | |
| DelaCruz, Jeremy (#5) | 4 / 10 [0.400] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| Gacula, Carlos | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| Margate, Sunny | 7 / 13 [0.538] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | |
| Matsumura, Dan (#19) | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Parrilla, Ryan | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Quimel, Ron | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rosales, KJ | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 30 / 64 [0.469] | 5 / 16 [0.313] | 7 / 10 [0.700] | 33 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 72 | ||