Seattle steals Game 1 of semifinals against defending champs

CHARLESTON, W.VA -- The young, visiting upstarts from Seattle came from behind in the fourth quarter to snatch victory away from the defending champion Charleston Mountaineers, 91-90.
Free throws played a huge part in this one, with Seattle going 20 for 24 while Charleston settled for 8 made on 12 attempts.
The win gives the Seattle Stampede the upper hand in the best of three semis, making the next game in Seattle an elimination contest for Charleston.
The same two teams met in this same round last season, and Seattle also shocked the MBA world with an opening win before bowing out in three.

With Hall of Fame Charleston center Max Payne out with injury in the first two games of the series, Mountaineers forward B. Quiet, high point man in the game at this juncture, fouls out with 45 time units remaining and his team ahead 79-75.

Then, the barn-burning final 29 time unit highlights went like this:

-- Rookie Seattle point guard Bob Kittle hits a medium jump shot to tie the game 82-82.
-- At 20 time units, Seattle shooting guard Wimsy Greenfoyle hits a big 3-pointer to give the Stampede their first lead of the game, 87-86.
-- The Seattle lead is stretched to 3 after a Charleston miss and a fast-break layup by Kittle.
-- After stealing the ball, Charleston's Beezow Bop-Bop scores over Seattle's Dis Reflexia to cut the Stampede lead to 89-88 with 6 time units left.
-- After Charleston's Jesus Moron Joseph fouls out, Seattle's Greenfoyle drives to the hole and scores with 2 time units left, giving Seattle a 91-88 lead.
-- Shits McGriddle of Charleston slam dunks at the horn, but the Mountaineers lose 91-90.

20-PLUS GVP PERFORMANCES
-- Last season's MVP of the Playoffs, Beezow Bop-Bop, gets the MVP of the Game nod in this one, but could not quite bring his Charleston team the victory. Bop-Bop led the home team with 20 points, tied for tops in steals with 2, had 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot.

-- Charleston point guard Jesus Moron Joseph had 19 points, tied for game-high with 5 assists and pulled down 3 boards before fouling out.
-- Charleston center Shits McGriddle did himself proud subbing for the injured Payne. In his first start ever, the 6-11 McGriddle produced a triple-double, with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
-- Before fouling out, Charleston forward B. Quiet was on a roll. He left the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 1 blocked shot.
-- All five of Seattle's starters were over the 20-GVP mark, starting with rookie point guard Bob Kittle, who threw in 21 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, assisted 3 times and had 1 steal.
-- Scoring guard Wimsy Greenfoyle of Seattle was tied for game-high scoring honors with 22 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 2 assists.
-- Seattle center Dis Reflexia just missed a triple-double with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a game-high 2 blocks.
-- Second-year forward Sven Marquardt tied Greenfoyle for top scorer, netting 22, getting a pair of rebounds and 1 assist. Marquardt, who was 3 for 27 beyond the arc in the regular season, was 2 for 3 in this game.
-- Rookie small forward Jairo Capoeira led everyone with 7 rebounds, scored 12 points, had 3 assists and 1 steal in the win.

NEXT UP: Philadelphia travels to Oklahoma City to take on the favored Lariats in game 1 of that best of 3 semifinals.