USBL All-Tournament MVP -
Nate Johnson (6'2''-G-79) of Kansas Cagerz All-USBL Player of the Year -
Anthony Richardson of Kansas Cagerz All-USBL Defensive Player of the Year -
Ronald Ross of Albany Patroons All-USBL 6th Man of the Year -
Kareem Reid of Albany Patroons All-USBL Rookie of the Year -
Adam Schaper (6'9''-F/C-83) of Gary Steelheads All-USBL Coach of the Year -
Dale Osbourne of Dodge City Legend
Cagerz Win 2007 USBL Championship
In
what looked to be an easy victory early for the
Cagerz, turned out to be a barn-burner, but the
Cagerz prevailed 95-92 to win their first, and
possibly the last ever USBL Championship. With
so much uncertainty surrounding the future of
the league, the Cagerz used their three
post-season games as a chance to show how good
they really were. Kansas dominated the Gary
Steelheads in Pool play before facing Brooklyn
in today's Championship. After going 0 for 2 in
previous trips to the Finals, the Cagerz are now
Champions.
After even play for most of the quarter, the
Cagerz closed the first on a 10-3 run going from
18-18 to up 28-21 heading into the second.
Kansas maintained control in second quarter and
headed to locker rooms up 51-36. At the half,
the leading scorer for Brooklyn was
Abdul Mills (6'3''-G-79, college:
Nebraska-Omaha) with 13. Kansas was led by
Nate Johnson (6'2''-G-79, agency:
Warren Sports, college:
Nebraska) with 12. Brooklyn was out of sorts
in the first half shooting an abysmal 27.3% from
the field, including 22.2% (2-9) from behind the
arc. The Kings did manage to get to the
free-throw line 18 times, but only converted on
10 of those attempts. Meanwhile, Kansas
connected on 22-38 from the field shooting at a
57.9% clip.
Not looking to go down without a fight, Brooklyn
stormed out of the gates to begin the third
quarter with a 14-4 run, narrowing their deficit
to five at 55-50 at the 7:10 mark in the period.
Kansas was sloppy with the ball, committing 19
turnovers at the 6:19 mark of the third, which
were converted into 24 Brooklyn points.
Brooklyn took the lead at 65-64 on a pair of
Dajan Smith (6'7''-F-80, college:
Lynn) free-throws at the 2:07 mark. The
Kings closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run to go
up 73-64 heading into the last period.
Abdul Mills' 13 points matched Kansas'
entire team output in the quarter. Kansas had
committed 14 more turnovers than Brooklyn at
this point, leading to a +23 points off of
turnover margin (33-10) for the Kings.
Brooklyn maintained their lead and was up 82-73
at the 5:13 mark of the fourth. The Kings were
still shooting poorly, but capitalized on their
18 steals caused by pressure defense. They had
35 points off of Cagerz turnovers.
The Cagerz roared back to narrow the lead to one
at 84-83 with 2:40 to go, hitting their last six
free-throws during the run. A big bucket by
Abdul Mills with 1:53 to go extended
Brooklyn's lead to 86-83. Cagerz then went up by
one, 87-86 on a pair of
Anthony Richardson (6'7''-F-83, agency:
Interperformances, college:
Florida St.) free-throws with 1:13 to go.
Abdul Mills was fouled on the ensuing
possession but missed both shots and Kansas got
the rebound. Anthony Johnson was then fouled and
hit both of his shots giving Kansas the 89-86
lead with just under a minute to go.
Possibly the Tournament MVP,
Nate Johnson hit a clutch baseline jumper
with 27 seconds to go extending the Cagerz lead
to 91-87.
Greg Plummer (6'4''-G-83, college:
Eckerd) then hit both of his free throws
closing the gap to 91-89 with 19 seconds to go
and Kansas with the ball. After a pair of free
throws by
Cleotis Brown (6'6''-G/F-77, college:
Illinois), Plummer drilled a three with 12
seconds to go narrowing the lead to 93-92.
Anthony Johnson hit two more free throws after
being fouled by
Kyle Williams (6'6''-F-79, college:
Howard) and
Isaiah Hunter (6'2''-G-84, agency:
Worldwide Hoops, college:
ODU) missed a final three at the end of
regulation.
In a game which Kansas lost and then regained
control of, it was their clutch free-throw
shooting that sealed the Championship. The
Cagerz hit 24 of 26 second half free-throws only
missing one in the final quarter. Meanwhile,
Brooklyn, as was the case for most of the
season, found it hard going at the charity
stripe, connecting on only 67.5% of their
attempts, and missing at crucial times in the
fourth. For the victors,
Nate Johnson led the way with 27 points on
8-15 shooting, while Brooklyn was led once again
by
Abdul Mills, who had a game high 28.
KINGS:
Abdul Mills (28p+5to), Brice Assie (16p),
Anthony Glover (15p+9rb+6st+7to),
Dajan Smith (14p+11rb)
CAGERZ:
Nate Johnson (27p+5rb), Anthony Johnson
(15p+6rb), Lee Benson (13p+11rb),
Anthony Richardson (12p+5rb)
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