COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: Week 5 Recap | Meet The Browns Pull Out A Nail Biter & Hand Down Man Down Dominates

“There’s No Need To Fall Down Seven Times And Stand Up Eight Making The Same Mistake…Learn From Your Mistakes And Don’t Repeat Them” – Unknown

Happy Friday to all those in Ultimate Hoops Nation! For those in attendance last night you can’t say you were disappointed with either of the games played in Ultimate Hoops Arena. I know it’s been used time and time again, but “Pressure Bust Pipes” is perfect of what took place last night in our game of the night. Without further ado it’s time for me to do what I do when I do what I do oh so well….It’s The Recap Baby!!!

(3-1) Meet The Browns vs. (2-2) Dem Boyz
I think a lot of times players don’t realize this game of basketball is more than just your physical ability and more about the mental side of the game. Typically when other teams see certain players suiting up they automatically say well that person is good for 20 or 30 points so let’s force the other players to beat us and they forget the person they no longer focus on can be the deadliest player on or off the court.

Basketball god’s thank you for Chance “D” Matlock (64%fg, 67%3p & 1 asst) who stepped on the court last night with one objective and that was to show out. Out the gate he made his presence known knocking down a deep three followed by a couple of buckets reserved only for those who play above the rim. He would continue to play at a high level scoring 13 of his team high 23 points in the first half not to mention cleaning up on the glass with 7 of his game high 13 rebounds. Even with Dem Boyz quick start Meet The Browns didn’t make any sudden changes and what I mean by that was putting Anthony Byrd in the game who started his second game in a row on the bench. With this game looking like a wild wild west shootout Marco Clark (25pts, 71%fg, 4rebs & 3asst) stepped up to the plate finding his shooters touch early on knocking down his first two three pointers while making his first five shots from the field to keep his team close throughout the first half. Both teams would go back and forth taking the lead in this high scoring first half with Dem Boyz holding onto a three point lead at halftime.

The second half would start off the same way for both teams with some high flying and fast paced scoring. Meet The Brown’s would take the lead and hold on to a small lead throughout majority of the second half behind some tough play on both ends of the court from Ranell Green (69%fg, 100%3p & 1asst) who wound up scoring 16 of his 26 game high points in the second half. The tables would turn a little after Marco Clark went out earlier in the game with a cut above his right eye. Dem Boyz would jump on that and go on a 11-2 run after being down as much as 9 points to take the lead. Knowing things were getting a little too close for comfort Anthony Byrd (62%fg, 6rebs & 4stls) made his way back into the game and showed his dominance scoring on 3 of 5 Meet The Browns next possessions finishing the game with 18 points (12 in the second half). Dem Boyz would go on another run pushing their lead to 9 points with some big buckets from Benjamin Cohn (83%fg, 5rebs & 4stls) and Grant Morin (40%fg, 6rebs & 3asst) who combined for 39 of the teams points. After sitting for quite some time Marco Clark made his way back in the game with no more than five minutes left to play to see if their two man full court press could pull out another late game victory. Meet The Brown’s had no choice but to rely on their two biggest stars given their leading scorer Wes McKenzie was having an off night shooting going 4-14 finishing with 10 points (22 points below his then 32ppg average). Dem Boyz Nikita Smullen (18pts, 39%fg, 10rebs, 2asst & 1blk) would hit some big buckets down the stretch to keep his team’s chances of pulling off the seasons biggest upset. While this game would go down to the final seconds this game would slip away with four big turnovers by Dem Boyz with none bigger than the one created by Meet The Browns Anthony Byrd who capped it off with a two handed dunk.
(4-1) Meet The Browns 95 – (2-3) Dem Boyz 89 Box Score


(3-1) Hand Down Man Down vs. (0-4) Free Agents
I already knew Hand Down Man Down would come into this game a little more focused than normal after my staff and I picked the Free Agents to get their first when of the season against them. The Free Agents would need for everyone to step there game up after releasing Nikita Smullen given him the opportunity to resign with his original team. Game On!

Hand Down Man Down would start off fast posting eight points in a matter of minutes off of a few turnovers and bad shot attempts by the Free Agents. Once they had the lead they were able to settle into their game plan one of which I kind of game them a hint to use in the preview (won’t do that again). Brian Smith (53%fg, 3asst & 2stls) would make an early living in the paint grabbing down 4 offensive rebounds while scoring 12 of his 19 points in the first half. It only got better for them getting a very productive showing from one of their slept on players Chuck McKenzie who had his best shooting performance of the season going 7-9 (3-5 from behind the arc) from the field shooting 78% and finishing with 18 points. Having only five players to start the game meant the Free Agents would have to play some mentally inspired basketball while not burning through their timeouts due to fatigue. The Free Agents found themselves in a double digit hole (the one thing that has been consistent the whole season) early and had a tough time trying to dig their way out. Leading the way in this daunting task was DaMarcus Forney (45%fg, 8rebs, 2asst & 4stls) who has started to come into his own as a scorer finishing the first half scoring 14 of his season high 21 points. Even though he gave a valiant effort his team would go into half time down by 18 points (42-24).

As much as he has refrained from being a scoring threat this season on the Free Agent team Jasmin Williams (56%fg, 50%3p, 7rebs & 3asst) finally gave a glimpse of that in the second half sparking a 10-4 run to start the second half ultimately cutting their deficit to 12 points as he finished with a season high 22 points. It was a team effort which included Brett Harris (8pts, 40%fg, 6rebs & 1stl) slashing to the basket for an and one followed by a trey bomb from Amelia Yates (8pts, 40%3p & 5rebs). This glimpse of excitement would be short lived after a little trash talking from Jasmin Williams got under the skin of Hand Down Man Downs Seth Thompson (14pts, 7rebs, 2asst & 2stls) who posted his second subpar shooting performance (38%fg, 5-13). After a short lived substitution he came right back in scoring over an undersized Williams. The damage had already been done at the point by Tim “I’m A Beast” Kohere who posted 11 points on 5-6 shooting and snatching down career high 7 offensive rebounds not to mention dropping a season high five assist. Hand Down Man Down would cruise to a 30 point victory setting up a now important game against Dem Boyz next week.
(4-1) Hand Down Man Down 96 – (0-5) Free Agents 66 Box Score