LARIATS ESCAPE WITH OVERTIME WIN IN OPENER
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Season 41's playoffs started with an overtime thriller, with highly favored and defending champion Oklahoma City having to scramble back from a 12-point deficit to win in overtime.
Substitute guard Theon Greyjoy of Oklahoma City, playing for fouled out Akbar Zagobia, hit an open medium jumper on the last time unit of regulation to tie the game 61-61 and send it to overtime. Up to that point, Greyjoy missed all three of the shots he took. Getting the assist on that key hoop was Lariats point guard Yipeekayee Masterfalcon, who dished out 8 helpers in the win.
Wimsy Greenfoyle started the extra period with a driving bucket for Dallas, but Greyjoy then hit a trey to give the home team a lead it never relinquished. The game was put on ice when Hall of Fame Oklahoma City center Max Payne got his fifth block of the contest off Naceg Gecan, which was immediately followed by the first trey of the game by Masterfalcon, who was fouled and made the resultant free throw. That gave the Lariats a 5-point lead with just 8 time units remaining, all but sealing the victory.
In a game that featured the top two rebounding teams in the MBA, Dallas out-boarded the home squad 29-18, accounting for much of their success throughout the contest.
This was the 10th consecutive victory by Oklahoma City.
They now hold a 1-0 edge in the best of three semis.
PLAYER OF GAME
He had a rugged time from beyond the arc, but pin-point passing by YIPEEKAYEE MASTERFALCON of Oklahoma City led to numerous key buckets and a game-high 8 assists. The 7-year vet, retiring after this season, scored 15 points on 5 for 11 shooting (1 for 7 from 3-pt Land) and was 4 for 7 from the free-throw line. The 6-4 guard also pulled down 4 boards and had 1 steal. He opened the scoring for the Lariats with a slam-dunk put-back.
OTHER 20-PLUS GVP PERFORMERS
-- Now in his 16th season, All-MBA center Max Payne led the fourth-quarter charge for the Lariats, ending the game tied for high scorer with 16. He pulled down 3 rebounds, had 1 assist and swatted away a game-high 5 shots. He was a perfect 7 for 7 from the floor.
-- Second-year small forward Sloppy Dollop of Oklahoma City played his usual well-balanced game, getting 10 points , pulling down 3 boards, dishing 4 steals, blocking 2 shots and getting 1 steal.
-- Retiring shooting guard Wimsy Greenfoyle of Dallas tied for game-high in scoring with 16 points, pulled down 5 rebounds, had 2 assists and 1 steal.
-- Seventh-year center Naceg Gecan of Dallas, second in the league in rebounding this season, pounded the glass for a game-high 8 rebounds, scored 8 points, had 3 assists and 1 steal.
-- Now in his 15th season, Dallas power forward Gulemon Mon-Mon again accosted the backboards, grabbing 7 rebounds (he was third in the league behind Gecan in this department). Mon-Mon scored 13 points and dished out 1 assist in a solid outing.
Dallas prevented 20 points via defense while Oklahoma City prevented 18.
Dallas caused 5 turnovers while Oklahoma City caused 9 turnovers.
Max Payne of Oklahoma City prevented the most points -- 10
Gulemon Mon-Mon and Matthew Vanden Boogart of Dallas each prevented 7 points.
Max Payne and Pap Smearz of Oklahoma City tied for causing the most turnovers with 3 each.
Matthew Vanden Boogart of Dallas caused 2 turnovers.
NEXT UP: San Jose (5-5) travels to Charleston (8-2) in Game 1 of the other semi-final series. San Jose was defeated 99-78 during the regular season by the Mountaineers.
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