Featured Game No. 6...Oklahoma City at San Jose

NEXT UP: Sacramento (3-2)at Seattle (3-2) in the first of back-to-back games between these two. With San Jose just upsetting Oklahoma City, the margin for error in the race for the second playoff spot in the West got a little more narrow for the River Dogs and the Stampede.

42nd MBA All Star Game in Sacramento / Half-way Mark Stats

West 71, East 69

GINGER VAMPIRE SHINES IN FINAL ALL STAR APPEARANCE FOR VICTORIOUS WEST

SACRAMENTO -- Ginger Vampire and his West Division cohorts came from behind in the fourth quarter to capture this All Star contest 71-69.

It was Vampire who tied the score 58-58 on a fourth-quarter trey, capping a 9-2 West run to put them back in the game.

The lead then changed hands several times down the stretch before Pietro Destroyer of the East had a chance to tie the game with a loose ball 3-pointer that was denied by Bang-Bang Reiner of the West. Vampire then scored again for the West, putting the game out of reach.

The East still holds a 25-17 overall lead in the All Star contests, but the West has come on strong to win the last two in a row and 6 of the last 9.

As for overall All Star Game stat leaders, Hall of Famer Naf Naf's three treys puts him just two behind Cheetos Jones in All Star Game Threes.

Here's the leaders list in that department:
24--Cheetos Jones
22--Naf Naf
18--Mamadou Zongo
17--Ching-Chong Chung
17--Yipeekayee Masterfalcon
15--Tommy Zoop
15--Uncle Bob Masterson
15--Didger A'Doo
15--Doug Fresh
14--Cappy Gambol
14--Stu Nod

ALL STAR GAME MVP
Point guard GINGER VAMPIRE of the Oklahoma City Lariats, playing in his seventh and final All Star Game, won MVP honors for the first time. He follows last season's Oklahoma City point guard Yipeekayee Masterfalcon as MVP and Naf Naf, the Lariats point guard from Season 39. Vampire is the seventh Lariats player to win the MVP honor. He did so scoring a game-high 24 points, grabbing 6 boards, dishing 2 assists and blocking 1 shot. He was 9 for 19 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and 3 of 4 from the foul line.

OTHER 20-PLUS GVP PERFORMANCES
-- Bang-Bang Reiner, also of Oklahoma City, registered a triple-double in his first All Star Game appearance, scoring 14 points, grabbing 6 boards and tying for game-high in assists with 5.
-- Naf Naf, the Hall of Fame point guard now playing for Charleston, had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists for the East in the loss.
-- Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan of Charleston scored 14 points, grabbed a team-high 6 boards , blocked 1 shot, had 1 steal and assisted once for the West.
-- The ancient one, 16-season veteran forward Gulemon Mon-Mon, playing in his final All Star Game, led his team in scoring with 15 points and grabbed 5 boards.







UP NEXT...BRACKET 6
--FEATURED GAME First-place, two-time defending champ Oklahoma City takes its perfect 5-0 mark on the road to San Jose where they play the second-place Fighting Amigos (3-2) who are in a three-way dog fight for the second playoff spot in the West. Hall of Fame center Max Payne returns from his two-game injury for Oklahoma City. First of two straight games between these two.

-- The other two playoff contenders in the West square off as Sacramento (3-2) visits Seattle (3-2), with the winner almost certainly moving into second place. Also the first of two straight games between these two contenders.

-- The East leader Charleston (5-0) goes to Chicago to pound lumps on win-less Chicago (0-5). They beat them 101-78 in their first meeting, the only 100-point game thus far this season. J.J. Gargantuan was the Player of the Game in that one.

-- Second in the East Dallas (2-3) hosts third-place Milwaukee (2-3), with the Demons looking to firm up their playoff grip.

-- A pair of 1-4 teams square off in a cross-over as Los Angeles looks to break its four-game losing streak at Philadelphia, which has lost 3 in a row.

Season 42 All Star Game rosters announced

ALL STAR GAME INFO

-- Just one rookie, Potus Obama of Sacramento, made the All Star Game

-- There are five first-time All Stars this year, with forward Jairo Capoiera of Seattle waiting the longest to make it for the first time...six seasons. Apparently, Capoiera was satisfied to the point of announcing his retirment at the end of this season.

-- In addition to Capoiera, five other players who made the All Star rosters (a total of six) will hang it up after this season. Among those are Hall of Fame center Max Payne of Oklahoma City, fellow center Naceg Gecan of Seattle, forward Gulemon Mon-Mon of Dallas, guard Ginger Vampire of Oklahoma City and forward Vic Hitler of Los Angeles.

-- Fourth and fifth-year players accounted for the most players on All Star rosters with four players each from those respective classes.

-- Max Payne, with his 11th All Star roster spot, has now ascended to the top of the All Star list. He was previously in a deadlock with Uncle Bob Masterson and Mamadou Zongo, with 10 All Star spots, for the all-time top number. Also ascending the All Star selection list are Ginger Vampire, and Naceg Gecan, both earning their seventh spots and Gulemon Mon-Mon, making it for the sixth time. Unfortunately, every one of the ascendant players will be retiring after this season.

-- Additionally, Max Payne now moves up the ranks in the Hall of Fame, garnering his 21st career award. He is now tied for second most honored player with Uncle Bob Masterson, trailing only Curly Hogbottom's 25 awards.

-- Also moving up in the Hall of Fame rankings is Naf Naf, whose All Star Game addition gives him 18 career honors. Naf moves past Stu Nod and Link Lennex into a tie for seventh-most-honored player of all time with Boone Doggle and Mamadou Zongo.

-- Here is a list of the 12 most recent All Star Game MVPs:
Season 41 Yipeekayee Masterfalcon, Oklahoma City
Season 40 Beezow Bop-Bop, Charleston
Season 39 Naf Naf, Oklahoma City
Season 38 T.Kanes Masterson, Philadelphia
Season 37 Didger A'doo, Chicago
Season 36 Didger A'doo, Chicago
and Vic Hitler, Houston
Season 35 Smokey Talisker, Seattle
Season 34 Smokey Talisker, Seattle
Season 33 Ching-Chong Chung, Houston
Season 32 L.B. Damned, San Jose
Season 31 Cheetos Jones, Philadelphia
Season 30 Max Payne, Dallas

-- The most MVPs of the All Star Game belong to Hall of Famers Uncle Bob Masterson and Tommy Zoop, who each won the award three times.

-- Gulemon Mon-Mon will be in the starting lineup for the sixth time in his career. Only four other players have earned more starting All Star Game spots in MBA history. Also rising on the list are Ginger Vampire and Naf Naf with five starts each. Here's the full list of five or more starts:
1. Curly Hogbottom 9
2. Mamadou Zongo 8
3. Boone Doggle 7
3. Uncle Bob Masterson 7
5. Gulemon Mon-Mon 6
5. Diamond Dallas Paige 6
5. Soul Duran 6
5. Ching-Chong Chung 6
5. Tommy Zoop 6
5. Sagittal Occlusal 6
11.Ginger Vampire 5
11.Naf Naf 5
11.Marcus Pettis 5
11. Link Lennex 5
11. Jonny Cockaroo 5
11. Max Payne 5

-- The East has won the All Star Game 25 times while the West has won 16 times.
The West, however, has won 10 of the last 15 games, including last season's.

MBA ANNOUNCES SEASON 42 RETIREMENTS

Scan the list MBA fans and you'll see some pretty major names will be leaving the league at the conclusion of Season 42.

The hardest hit team and most noteworthy regarding retirements is two-time defending champion Oklahoma City, which will be losing the greatest center of all time, Hall of Famer Max Payne, along with star point guard Ginger Vampire, arguably a borderline Hall of Famer himself.

Seattle, the league's oldest team, lost the most players with four, including a pair of starters in forward Jairo Capoeira and longtime Tyler favorite center Naceg Gecan.

Dallas lost a pair of starters as well, including the powerful power forward Gulemon Mon-Mon, yet another player who was approaching Hall of Fame status but will now probably fall short.

Sacramento, Los Angeles and Chicago were all hit by a key starter hanging it up.

Four teams, including current powerhouse Charleston, escaped totally, although San Jose lost a good back-up forward.

Although this crop of retirees seems like an especially brutal hit to the MBA talent pool, it must be pointed out that the 12 players lost from MBA rosters falls short of the 18 who hung it up last season.
Nine starters will be retiring after this season, compared to the 10 who retired last season.

FEATURED GAME NO. 5...SACRAMENTO AT OKLAHOMA CITY