GAME FORUM

August 2nd - August 3rd

TNP/Pops 5 103, Hoop Street 85

Bingo's All-Stars 116, Team 914 110

ROCKET LAUNCHER: NEW HOUSTON ROCKET RON ARTEST MAKES HITS DEBUT WITH BINGOS ALL-STARS

Saturday was a rainy day at Sun Stadium. That didn't stop "Tru Warrior" Ron Artest, the newly acquired Houston Rocket, from stepping onto the courts of Sun Stadium at Hoops in the Sun Sunday afternoon and making his HITS debut vs Team 914, in which both teams were battling for playoff positioning.

Bingo's All-Stars, who already had MVP candidate Mike Glover on the low box, brought in Artest to create an amazing front court tandem. Glover, who posted up 51 points vs R2K Saturday afternoon, was looking for another monster game, and he didn't disappoint.

Artest checked into the game with roughly six minutes remaining in the first quarter, looking to find his rhythm in his first game at HITS. Just like Marcus Williams of PR Pride/K1X and now the Golden State Warriors, it took Artest a while to get accustomed to the beach setting. Team 914, not worrying about Artest, had Will Cadiz making everything he threw up at the rim, even scoring on Artest on one defensive possession. Team 914 had the lead going into halftime 50-45, but the second half is where everything started to heat up.

Glover took his game to another level in the second half, hearing from the announcers that he was a MVP candidate. He had 51 the day before and almost repeated that mark Sunday afternoon by racking up 49 points and 22 rebounds. At least six to seven consecutive possessions the ball was in Glover's hands, either drawing a foul on Team 914 or making the basket for a three-point play. Both teams were tied at 102-102 with two seconds remaining. Bingo's All-Stars threw the ball away on the inbounds pass, which never touched anyone's hands. Still with two seconds remaining, Team 914 was called for a five second violation. STILL, with two seconds remaining in regulation, Bingo's All-Stars tried to win the game on a three-pointer but was unsuccessful. This game was sent into overtime.

Both teams knew this was a very important game for playoff possibilities and neither team wanted to go down in defeat. With Glover fouling out early in the overtime session, many were turning for Artest to take over in the extra session. But it was Curtis Stinson and Keydren Clark who came up big for Bingo's All-Stars, hitting key three-point shots to put Bingo up for good and eventually
knocking off Team 914 in overtime 116-110. Glover finished with 49 points and 22 rebounds, while Artest finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Team 914 were led by Will Cadiz with 37 points and 17 rebounds and Nate Brown, who recorded a triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.