MOUNTAINEERS STAY ALIVE WITH PRODIGIOUS WIN
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Charleston Mountaineers took a couple of quarters to warm up, but when they finally started clicking they turned this must-win road game into a 95-59 rout. In addition to keeping the Charleston club alive, the win put an end to the longest winning streak in MBA history...13 games.
It appeared that Charleston's move of having Beezow Bop-Bop play point guard and cover Oklahoma City stalwart Yipeekayee Masterfalcon was a good one for a number of reasons and will be continued when the clubs return to Charleston for Game 4.
At least a trio of Masterfalcon treys would have been good without Bop-Bop slapping them away, but even so, a Custer-like massacre would not have been avoided.
Twelfth-season veteran Walt White of Charleston keyed the turnaround for the visitors in the second and third quarters hitting his first three treys of the playoffs. A 33-12 third quarter for the Mountaineers pretty much sealed the deal.
Will the Lariats now counter by moving Masterfalcon to the shooting guard spot. If they do, Charleston, as the home team, has the option of moving Naf back to the point and away from Masterfalcon.
This series has started to get real.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
He fouled and sat the bench on the very first time unit of the game, took just two shots in the first half, but recovered to win his second POG of the playoffs with his game-high 23-point effort. Hall of Famer NAF NAF ended up with 4 fouls for the third time in three Finals games, but was sparkling from beyond the arc with a 6 for 6 performance, fouling out Akbar Zagobia in the process. Naf also had 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal.
OTHER 20-PLUS GVP PERFORMERS
-- Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan also had his best game of the Finals, scoring 14 points, blocking a game-high 4 shots, posting a game-high for steals with 2 and grabbing 3 boards.
-- Charleston power forward Pietro Destroyer also contributed 14 points and a team-high 5 boards while dishing 2 assists.
-- The retiring substitute guard Walt White of Charleston keyed the comeback in this game, scoring 19 points on just 8 shots, pulling down 3 rebounds, getting 1 steal and 1 assist.
-- Even though he was somewhat stymied in the scoring column by Bop-Bop, Yipeekayee Masterfalcon of Oklahoma City still put up a triple-double for his team. His 12 points were accompanied by game-highs in both rebounds (6) and assists (6). It was the fourth triple-double of his career.
NEXT UP: Back to Charleston with Oklahoma City leading the best of five Finals 2 games to 1.
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