PHOBIA STILL PERFECT AS DEFENSE TAKES WIND OUT OF GALE
PHILADELPHIA -- The MBA's best defensive team (Philadelphia) squashed the league's best offensive unit (Chicago) as the home team Phobia stayed unbeaten with an easy win over Chicago.
Neither team had much of a shooting night, with Philly at just over 50 percent and Chicago at 43.5, but it was the Gale that was harassed with seemingly every pass, dribble or shot.
Chicago (now 5-3) actually got within 2 points of Philadelphia early in the fourth quarter before Philadelphia (now 8-0) slowly pulled away.
The win makes it a clean sweep in the East for the Phobia, which finishes with an 8-0 mark in the division, sweeping all four teams.
Philadelphia is bidding to become the fourth team ever to finish the regular campaign with a perfect 10-0 record. The Phobia did so once before in its glorious history when it went 10-0 in Season 6, only to lose in the playoffs.
Last season's 10-0 team from Charleston was the first 10-0 club to actually go on to win the MBA title.
With remaining cross-over games against 1-6 Seattle and 5-2 Oklahoma City, odds are good that Philly can be the second team in a row to finish the regular season with a perfect slate.
PLAYER OF GAME
POODLE "STIX" JACKSON snagged his second POG of the season with a dominant performance that included a game-high 26 points, a game-high (tied) 7 rebounds, a game-high (tied) 2 blocked shots, and a team-high (tied) 2 assists. Jackson, who fouled out Chicago forward Pietro Destroyer for the second time in two meetings, was 9 for 14 from the floor, delivering 2 of 3 long bombs and going 6 for 7 from the foul stripe. He got the Phobia off to a quick lead in the first quarter, which he dominated with 10 points.
Other 20-plus GVP performances
-- In addition to playing his usual suffocating defense (holding Norman Conquest to just 10 points on less than 33 percent shooting), Philadelphia two guard Akbar Zagobia contributed mightily on offense. Zagobia scored 18 points, three times as many as teammate and league-leading scorer Colquitt Croix. The 6-4 fourth-year man also hit the boards hard, tying for game-high with 7 rebounds.
-- Chicago power forward Big Bill Cull was the only Gale player to perform adequately on offense, scoring a team-high 20 points. Cull came into the game as the league's second-leading scorer behind Philadelphia's Croix, but has now surpassed Croix for the league leadership in that department by 3 points.
Cull remains at 20 points per game, while Croix drops to 19.6. In addition to being the only reliable scorer for the Gale in this game, Cull was the only Chicago player pulling down rebounds in any number, tying for game-high with 7.
NEXT UP: Dallas (5-2) at Milwaukee (0-7), with the visiting Demons looking to pass Chicago for the second playoff spot in the East. Dallas won the first meeting 80-79, so this is no sure thing, despite what the team records say.
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