Season 52 Featured Game No. 1...San Jose at Sacramento

 SACRAMENTO 80, SAN JOSE 68

R-DOGS COME BACK TO VANQUISH RIVALS

SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento River Dogs, sparked by their brand new front line, out-scored their Highway 80 rivals from San Jose 18-8 in the fourth quarter to get the opening day win 80-78.

The league's only two active Hall of Famers loomed large in the game, with center J.J. Gargantuan blocking a shot, then slamming home what would be the game-winner, and San Jose's Jesse Shershot, on a scoring rampage, coming up just short at the buzzer with a 3-point shot that would have won it.

Points prevented by quarters

San Jose......0...4...5...5 Total of 14

Sacramento 5...0...2...4 Total of 11

Most Points Prevented (4 tied with 4 each)

Jesse Shershot and Charles Broccoli of San Jose

J.J. Gargantuan and Crentis Dentist of Sacramento

PLAYER OF THE GAME

46 GVP...San Jose's Hall of Fame guard JESSE SHERSHOT began his sixth season with a bang, scoring the second-most points of his career in one game by putting up 37 big ones on 13 of 22 shooting. Now playing the point guard position, Shershot bombed in 6 long ones in 13 attempts and went 5 for 6 from the foul line. This gets him well on the way to his fifth consecutive scoring title. The 6-5 Shershot muscled up for a game-high (tied) 6 rebounds and led everyone in the game with 3 assists. He also tied for most points prevented in this game.  His high scoring game came during the San Jose championship Season 49, when he went off for 39 against Philadelphia in the Finals.

Other 20-plus GVP performances

27 GVP...Two-time All-MBA forward Crentis Dentist had a superb debut for his new Sacramento team. The 6-6 small forward scored 15 points, tied for game-high in rebounds with 6, tied for game-high in steals with 2, had 2 assists, blocked 2 shots and tied for most points prevented in the game.

25 GVP...Rookie power forward Kevin Duran-Duran deliverd a perfect shooting day in his MBA debut, going 8 for 8 from the floor and 4 for 4 from the foul line for a team-high 20 points. He added 4 rebounds and a steal to his numbers.

23 GVP...Obviously happy to be seeing the court again, Hall of Fame center J.J. Gargantuan scored 15 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, handed out 2 assists and blocked a game-high 3 shots. He tied for the most points prevented in the game. And, he dunked home the game-winning shot.

23 GVP...Another longtimer getting his shot in a starting role, San Jose guard Otto Palindrome was better than solid, scoring 13 points, tying for game-high in rebounds with 6, tying for game-high in steals with 2 and accounting for 2 assists.

MBA Standings … Season 52

EAST DIVISION

OKLAHOMA CITY…..1-0

DALLAS………………….1-0

PHILADELPHIA………1-0

MILWAUKEE……….. 0-1

CHARLESTON………..0-1

 

 

WEST DIVISION

SACRAMENTO…1-0

LOS ANGELES…..0-0

SEATTLE…………..0-0

SAN JOSE………….0-1

GILLETTE………….0-1

 

NEXT UP:  Seattle at Los Angeles as the two-time defending champion Big One begins its season against a forelorn Stampede team.