LARIATS EDGE MOUNTAINEERS FOR BACK-TO-BACK TITLES
CHARLESTON -- Despite their 9-1 regular season record, none of the three MBA experts picked the Oklahoma City Lariats to repeat as champions when the Season 41 MBA Finals began. But thanks to a Game 4 barn-burning road victory that went down to the final shot, the visitors captured the third title in franchise history; their second in a row and third in the past 7 seasons.
With his team leading by 2 points with 2 time units remaining, Sloppy Dollop of Oklahoma City was at the foul line shooting a pair with a chance to seal the deal. But he left the door open when he hit the first charity toss, but missed the second. J.J. Gargantuan of Charleston grabbed the rebound, flung it to Beezow Bop-Bop beyond the arc with 1 time unit remaining, but Bop-Bop's potential game-tying trey never got a chance to leave his hands because Oklahoma City's Akbar Zagobia denied him the opportunity to shoot. (He would have missed anyway...we know this for a fact, which is why the MBA is superior to any other league.)
Thus, the ghost of 9-1 seasons for the Oklahoma City franchise has been exorcised. Consider the following:
On four other occasions the Lariats went into the playoffs with a regular season record of 9-1 but came home without an orange championship basketball icon to affix onto their envelope.
Season 12 9-1 (lost in the finals)
Season 13 9-1 (lost in the finals)
Season 17 9-1 (lost in the finals)
Season 37 9-1 (lost in the semifinals)
And that's not even counting Season 18 when the Lariats went 10-0, only to lose in the semifinals.
But not this season. This season they defended their Season 40 championship despite losing Hall of Famer Naf Naf, the most prolific scorer in MBA history, to the team they defeated in the Finals. They did so with depth, a league-leading defense and a league-leading assist mark.
The title-clinching game was the closest of the Finals, with Naf Naf nearly foiling his old team down the stretch.
Here's how the end of the contest went:
-- Charleston, led by Naf Naf, stages a big comeback, coming from 9 down to within 4 points with 17 ticks left
-- Sloppy Dollop of Oklahoma City hits a HUGE trey and is fouled with 16 left. He hits the free throw. Up 8.
-- Naf Naf immediately answers with a 3-pointer for Charleston with 15 left. Lead is down to 5.
-- Pap Smearz of Oklahoma City swishes a short jumper over a forced miss by Destroyer. Lead back up to 7
-- Naf Naf hits another trey with 9 ticks left and the lead is back down to 4.
-- J.J. Gargantuan of Charleston twice denies made baskets down low by Max Payne of OKC. Mountaineers ball with 6 left.
-- J.J. Gargantuan jams one home with 4 ticks left to bring Charleston within 2 points of the lead.
-- Sloppy Dollop of OKC misses a shot down low with 2 ticks left that would have clinched it. But B. Quiet fouls him.
That brings us to the summary we originally described.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Second-year forward SLOPPY DOLLOP of Oklahoma City came into this important game averaging just 10 points a game in the playoffs. But the 6-7 small forward showed up like a champ in this one with a game-high 26 point performance that included 11 of 15 shooting, 2 for 2 from 3-Point Land, a pair of dunks, 2 for 3 from the foul line, a game-high 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
OTHER 20-PLUS GVP PERFORMERS
-- Oklahoma City's retiring point guard Yipeekayee Masterfalcon continued to shine, bowing out of the MBA picture with a 20-point game that included 6 treys, two of them coming back-to-back in the fourth quarter. In fact all six of his buckets were 3s...he was 6 of 7 from deep for the game. He also had 2 rebounds and 3 assists. He may be the Playoff MVP when the final tallies are made. If he is, he retires as a Hall of Famer. Even if he doesn't win MVP, Masterfalcon says "adios" with 9 honors on his card, which has always been good for an eventual HOF berth.
-- Oklahoma City forward Pap Smearz scores 16 points, pulls down 5 boards, blocks 1 shot and gets 1 assist. And he gets his third ring for a third different franchise in the past four seasons.
-- Eight-year star guard Beezow Bop-Bop of Charleston scored 20 points, pilfered a game-high 3 steals, blocked 2 shots, had 2 rebounds and dished out 2 assists.
-- Hall of Famer Naf Naf of Charleston scored a team-high 25 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter when he was moved back to the point guard position. He also grabbed 2 rebounds.
-- In the last game of his illustrious Charleston career, forward B. Quiet scored 15 points, led all players with 5 assists and grabbed 1 rebound.
As a team, Oklahoma City prevented 16 points and produced 2 turnovers.
As a team, Charleston prevented 13 points and produced 4 turnovers.
Top individuals in points prevented (saved points...points saved)
1. Max Payne of Oklahoma City, 8 points prevented
2. J. J. Gargantuan of Charleston, 6 points prevented
3. Beezow Bop-Bop of Charleston, 5 points prevented
Top individuals in turnovers caused
1. Beezow Bop-Bop of Charleston, 3 turnovers caused
2. Max Payne of Oklahoma City, 2 turnovers caused
3. J.J. Gargantuan of Charleston, 1 turnover caused
Game Note
The following exciting sequence ending the first half is indicative of the frenzied action. This all happened in the last four time units.
-- Masterfalcon of Oklahoma City nails a trey
-- Naf Naf of Charleston nails a trey
-- Masterfalcon of Oklahoma City nails a trey
-- Naf of Charleston shoots a trey at the horn that goes in, then out.
NEXT UP: Stats, MVP of the Playoffs announcement.
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