THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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Tri-State InvAsian 48, A ball 34 |
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Fang Tries, Tri-State Stays Hot | ||
| Jump! Jae Ha Hwang of A ball gets the jump on Tri-State's Gin Chao | ||
Tri-State (5-2) got past A ball (4-3) 48-34 by pulling away in the second half with a punishing defensive scheme. Fang suited up for A ball against the team doctor's advice of resting another month after he got his cast removed just last week. For one quarter, it looked like he was going to prove any doubters wrong. Since it was his left hand that was hurt and Fang is right handed, his shot was able to stay relatively unaffected during the layoff. Fang consistently kept his shot in tact by doing shooting drills with the cast on each night. When the game started last night, this was apparent. He started the game off with a steal and lay-in and it looked like he hadn't lost a step of his game speed. Prior to the injury, Fang was also a projected league steals leader after notching 5 thefts in the season opener. The first half of the first quarter continued to be all A ball, as after an Andre Liu freebie to make it 2-1, Jae Ha Hwang found Kendall Shim for a basket, and then Fang went ballistic. He came down the next time A ball got the ball and pulled up from a foot beyond the arc a la Kyle Korver before getting the ball again and taking it in for a basket to put A ball up 9-1. Fang was on pace to drop a double nickel in his return to action. Something a certain someone named MJ did in his return to action in New York several years back. After Swishy Rassiwalla made a free throw for Tri-State to make it 9-2, Joe Huang scored a layup to make it 11-2 in favor of A ball and it began to sort of look like Fang's return was totally pumping up his team, making them all play better. This was before Tri-State's own star, Marshall Cho, settled in and righted the situation. Cho went on a personal 8 point scoring spree to bring his team back to within a point. After Brandon Song and Ray Lieu traded baskets for each team, the score was 13-10, A ball, at the end of one. The game was close again, something that wasn't the case just a mere few minutes prior to. "Someone's gotta get on that guy!" That guy was Fang and this was the sentiment echoed by the Tri-State team coming out for the start of the 2nd quarter. Well, they did that - and more - in this quarter. The first thing they did was take the lead for the first time in the game after Eric Yu scored on a rebound put back and Swishy drained a three off a feed from Cho to put them up 15-13. Fang then took a spill to the floor in an aggressive effort that left him writhing in pain holding his frail left wrist. The doctor's had seen enough and took him out of the game. He sat the rest of the quarter. The lead then switched hands several times as A ball got it back on an Annie - er, Jabin Kim moneyball from deep. Lieu scored from in close to hop-scotch over A ball 17-16 and Cho extended it with a steal and layup to 19-16. Kim then found Shim for a basket before Jack Run scored on a dribble penetration inside to put A ball back up 20-19. Lieu again helped Tri-State back into the lead with his third basket of the game before Joe Huang found the bucket for A-ball to put them up for what would be the final time of the game, 22-21 just before the half. The 2nd half opened with Fang in the locker room trying to get treatment on his hand to go again. In his absence, Tri-State took advantage and opened the game up during this frame. Cho, who was struggling a bit from outside after having an explosive game from downtown the previous week against Oh Holla!, missed his 4th three attempt, but those who were witnesses in the gym, saw something happen that left them shaken in their seats. Never one to give up, Lieu skied up high, and in one fell swoop, tapped the Cho miss right back into the hoop in an athletic move that reminded one scribe of how The Bus, who looked beat down and washed up all season long, motored for 150 yards against the Eagles last week, looking like he had found the fountain of youth. In post game comments in the locker room, Lieu would say, "That was pure luck. I couldn't ever do that again." Lieu not only put his team up 23-22, but then on the next possession, found Swishy inside posting up for an assist. Swishy then took the momentum and started making some things happen for his team. He scored another two baskets after - one off a dime from Felix Shen and one after catching a Cho airball from three. It was 29-23 at this point, the largest lead Tri-State had had in the game. The teams then traded the next 4 baskets as Song snagged a rebound off a missed free throw and put it back in, Gin Chao received a pass from Cho and put in a jumper that rimmed around and dropped in like goods in a flushing toilet, Joe Hwang drove the lane for two, and finally Cho hit a baseline J off a feed from Shen once again. Returning from the locker room, Fang checked in at 38.2 seconds left to give it a go but it'd be to no avail. The score was 35-27 after Cho dropped a pair of freebies and the quarter would end, as would Fang's participation in the game. Fang wouldn't return in the 4th quarter, but at the start of it, his team played like he was in it. Kim found Shim and Jae Ha Hwang found Shim again and suddenly A ball had Shimmied back into it 35-31. If not for some missed easy shots on the ensuing possessions, A ball could have tied it up or taken the lead. This was because Cho was still having a hard time from outside. "I can't find my J!" muttered Cho as the teams took the court for the 4th. He was only 3-13 at this point, while missing all 6 of his trey attempts. Perhaps he had used it all up last week? Perhaps not. Aftering pointing this out to himself, Cho promptly went on a tear as he warmed up with a basket on which he also drew the foul. He then stole an inbounds pass and went in for the lay-up. After he hit his first and only three of the game, off a feed from - who else - Shen - he had Tri-State up double digits for the first time all game at 42-32 with 1:52 left in the game. Any hope of a comeback by A ball after Kim scored a basket and was fouled by Liu with 1:16 left ended as Kim missed the freebie and then soon thereafter, Cho stole the ball and went coast to coast for a lay-in and the 10 point margin again that would be too much to overcome for A ball. Cho wound up with 21 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals in another impressive all-around peformance despite the struggles early on from the field. Swishy recorded his first double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Lieu nearly joined him in that elite category with 8 points and 10 boards of his own. With Fang out, A ball struggled offensively. No one recorded double figures. Fang was certainly on his way to that before being taken out of the game. He finished with 7, all in the first quarter. Whether he will return for the playoff run is yet to be determined. Jae Ha Hwang snatched 10 rebounds while Shim finished with 8 points and 6 boards. The teams now await the outcome of Sunday's remaining games to see what seeds they get for post-season play. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A ball | 13 | 9 | 5 | 7 | - | 34 |
| Tri-State InvAsian | 10 | 11 | 14 | 13 | - | 48 |
Boxscore
| A ball - 34 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fang, Mark | 3 / 6 [0.500] | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |
| Hwang, Jae Ha | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Hwang, Joe | 3 / 11 [0.273] | 0 / 4 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| Kim, Jabin | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Ko, Albert | DNP | ||||||||||
| Morita, Brent | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Run, Jack | 1 / 7 [0.143] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 2 / 6 [0.333] | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| Shim, Kendall | 4 / 6 [0.667] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| Song, Brandon | 2 / 13 [0.154] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 15 / 52 [0.288] | 2 / 10 [0.200] | 2 / 8 [0.250] | 37 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 34 | ||
| Tri-State InvAsian - 48 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chao, Gin | 1 / 6 [0.167] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Cho, Hoon | DNP | ||||||||||
| Cho, Marshall | 8 / 21 [0.381] | 1 / 10 [0.100] | 4 / 4 [1.000] | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | |
| Lieu, Ray | 4 / 7 [0.571] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| Liu, Andre | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3 | |
| Oh, Albert | DNP | ||||||||||
| Rassiwalla, Sabir | 4 / 12 [0.333] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | |
| Shen, Felix | 0 / 3 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Shiomi, Eddie | DNP | ||||||||||
| Yu, Eric | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 18 / 55 [0.327] | 2 / 16 [0.125] | 10 / 19 [0.526] | 37 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 12 | 48 | ||