49th MBA All Star Game

West 83, East 76

West ends All Star drought

DALLAS -- After getting off to a monstrous 21-point halftime lead, the West All Stars held off a second-half charge by the East to secure an 83-76 victory, their first in seven games.

The series now stands at 31-18 in favor of the East.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE ALL STAR GAME

It's only fitting that the most experienced All Star Game participant, forward DOO-RAG DRIPP of the Sacramento River Dogs, earned this season's MVP of the Game award. The 9-year star, who leads the league in scoring thus far, scored 18 points for the victors, going 8 for 10 in the game with his only misses being two 3-point attempts. He was 2 for 2 from the foul line. Dripp also tied for game-high in blocks with 2, posted a team-high 2 steals and dished 3 assists. He was outstanding defensively throughout the game as well. He is the fourth River Dogs player to win All Star MVP honors, and the first in 20 seasons. Others were: rookie forward Dean Wormer in Season 23, guard Wes Montgomery in Season 27 and Hall of Fame guard Cheetos Jones in Season 29. Dripp's 2 steals in this game gives him 6 in All Star Games, which ranks second behind Momadou Zongo's career-high 8. It ties him with Bill Rustler, with Saggital Occlusal next with 5.

Other 20-plus GVP performers

-- In his third and final All Star Game appearance, retiring Dallas point guard Potatoes O'Gratin left the fans something to remember him by...a triple-double, which he achieved in the third quarter. O'Gratin scored 15 points, handed out a game-high 5 assists and tied for team-high in rebounds with 5. The 6-4 guard also tied for game-high in blocks with 2, the last of which put him out of the game with an injury (rest of quarter) for the final 23 time units of the game.

-- San Jose gunner Jesse Shershot led everyone in scoring with 20 points while pulling down 4 rebounds, despite going 0 for 9 from beyond the arc.

-- Oklahoma City's lone representative Handsy Joe Potatoe came on strong late to finish with 16 points, 4 of which were from deep, while pulling down 3 rebounds, getting 2 assists, 1 steal and tying for game-high in blocked shots with 2. 

-- Fourth-season 7-1 center Chochky Galumpkus of the home team Dallas Demons scored a team-high 18 points for the East while grabbing 5 boards and blocking 1 shot.

-- It took Dallas forward Al A. Orden nine seasons to make his first All Star team, and he did not disappoint once he got here. The 6-8 forward scored 15 points, grabbed 5 boards and had 1 assist in the loss. 

-- Coming off the bench to spark the near-comeback for the East, point guard Great Gruncle Terry broke a one-game steals record that has stood for 17 campaigns by swiping 4 steals. The record of 3 was originally set in Season 32 by Seattle guard Cock A. Doodledoo. Terry finished the game with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and a team-high 3 assists. He finished one of his steal with a slam dunk and another by pulling up behind the arc and burying a trey.

NEXT UP...BRACKET NO. 6

-- Sacramento (2-3) at San Jose (1-4) ... a win puts the Fighting Amigos right back into the playoff picture. The defending champion River Dogs beat them in the season opener, a 91-82 shoot-out.

-- Seattle (5-0) at Los Angeles (2-3) ... the Stampede should remain unbeaten...they handled The Big One easily 75-60 early on.

-- Dallas (3-2) at Milwaukee (3-2) ... the preseason division-favorite Greyhounds can't afford a loss to the surprising Demons.

-- FEATURED GAME: Charleston (4-1) at Philadelphia (4-1) in a showdown for first place in the uber-competitive East. The Mountaineers destroyed the Phobia 102-58 in their first meeting, but Philly is on a 3-game winning streak.

-- Oklahoma City (1-4) at Gillette (0-5) ... the cross-over in this bracket has the two last-place teams in their division squaring off. On paper, it looks like Gillette stays win-less.

(The Humps have replaced 4-year coach Yo Noid with Flip Testerton, who will begin his tenure with this game). Noid took over as coach in the second season of the franchise. He went 1-9, 0-10, and peaked at 2-8 in the team's first year in Gillette after moving from Kansas City. They were 0-5 this season...an overall coach's record of 3-32.