Regulation time was not enough for Legacy and the Rockers to determine a winner in Tuesday new Breed Basketball Association’s early game at the Educational Complex, it took double overtime in a hard fought back and forth contest to determine a winner.
In the end, however, Legacy had a little more left in the tank during the second overtime to pull out the 100-99 victory.
Based on the stat sheets it would appear that the Rockers played the better all around game. They had 31 more rebounds than Legacy, winning the battle o the boards 96-65, and had more assist at 24-18. But it was what they did when they had the ball that mattered. What they did was turn the ball over a lot more than their opponents and that kept them from capitalizing on areas that they dominated. Legacy’s defense forced a plethora of turnovers that included 20 steals.
In the end, however, this could have gone either way.
Legacy’s two-guard, Chris Floyd, came out on fire in the opening period, scorching the nets for 16 first quarter points that helped his team to 29-21 advantage in the opening stanza.
The Rockers were much better offensively in the second quarter, utilizing a balanced attack, to outscore Legacy 20-14 in the period and trail by just three at intermission,43-40. Seven Rocker players netted points in that second quarter while Leandre Arrindel led Legacy with nine points.
Olani Vanterpool and Bobby Evans took over the scoring for their respective teams in the hotly contested third quarter. Vanterpool knocked down nine in the period for the Rockers and Evans netted 10 for Legacy as the Rockers won the quarter 20-19 to cut the Legacy lead to two two points, 62-60.
A 20-18 fourth quarter in favor of the Rockers meant the teams were deadlocked at 80 at the end of regulation. The Rockers did have an opportunity for the last shot as the clock wound down but muffed that chance.
The first overtime was a back and forth contest with both teams enjoying leads of as much as four points. The Rockers wer up by three with nine seconds left in the first overtime when Legacy’s Joaquin Francis took the inbounds, pass raced the length of the floor, pulled up just beyond the arc and hit a desperation three-pointer to send the game into the second overtime.
The second OT was almost identical to the third quarter, with both teams having their moments, but fatigue became a major factor, and Legacy had a bit more left in the tank and were able to pull out the 100-99 victory.
`Evans scored all but six of his game high 29 points after intermission to lead Legacy. Arrindel knocked down 27 points while grabbing 17 boards and Floyd finished with 28 points. For the Rockers David Little led five players in double figures with 23 points while grabbing 15 boards. Vanterpool had 20 points with 11 rebounds; Patrick scored 13 points and grabbed a game high 18 rebound, Kareem Smith scored 12 points 12 rebounds and Abijah Knight had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
