Season 36 Finals, Game 3...Houston at Charleston

HOUSTON 80, CHARLESTON 67
IGUANAS KEEP CHARLESTON CHAMPAGNE ON ICE

CHARLESTON -- The championship bubbly will have to wait.

The young Houston Iguanas, backs to the wall, responded in fine fashion in this elimination game on the road with a convincing 80-67 win. Led by their two All-MBA first team players, guard T. Kanes Masterson and rookie forward Vic Hitler, Houston overcame a bumpy first quarter, grabbed an 11-point halftime lead and never looked back.

The series now moves back to Houston with the Iguanas trailing 2 games to 1 and the Mountaineers still needing just one win to clinch the title.

The Houston win overshadowed yet another brilliant game by Charleston point guard Beezow Bop-Bop, who registered his second consecutive MVP of the Game effort and third of the playoffs. This was an even better game than Bop-Bop's previous effort, which drew raves. He lit up the Iguanas for 30 points, but got almost no help from anyone else on Charleston.

"They're going to make us earn this," said longtime Charleston coach Bill Rustler. "We can't expect to just throw our jock straps out there and win a championship. Hell, that's what it looked like we were doing on defense half the time tonight...just throwing jock straps at 'em."

Houston featured an all-rookie front line that included the first start for 6-8 first-year center Hodor, subbing for the injured Sanjay Patel. The big, bulking rook held his own against the Hall of Famer Max Payne, who for the second straight game, did little offensively.

20-PLUS GVP PERFORMANCES
-- T. Kanes Masterson of Houston had yet another brilliant scoring game with 25 points, going 10 for 12 and slowing down not at all even with Bop-Bop switched over to guard him. He also had 5 boards, 2 assists and a steal.
-- Vic Hitler was not as prolific in scoring, but did get 13 points, 6 rebounds and a blocked shot for the victors.
-- Beezow Bop-Bop, playing the best ball of his three-season career, continued his dominating ways with a game-high 30 points, a game-high 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. That's a 40 GVP effort if you're scoring at home.