BLOOMINGTON SOUTH, MN: Noisy Withdrawal Advances, HDMD Out

With a large crowd on hand, including many Ultimate Hoops legends and notable names, eight teams were vying for their playoff lives in Bloomington South on Wednesday night. When the final buzzer sounded, four teams had won tickets to the Big Show tomorrow night in Fridley, while the other four teams were left to think about what could have been.


#1 Showtime vs. #8 Noisy Withdrawal

The night tipped off with one of the most controversial matchups in Ultimate Hoops history. Fans and GMs discussed and debated the inclusion of Noisy Withdrawal - and the omission of the Mighty Unicorns - at length in the days leading up to tonight's game. Even Joe Neuenfeldt chipped in by saying, "frankly, [the decision is] embarrassing".

Noisy brought a full squad to tonight's game and looked to pull the upset over the 3rd best team from Plymouth. They led by 8 going into the half. Showtime pulled close many times down the stretch, but never got into a rhythm, shooting only 29% from downtown on 31 attempts.

Kyle Meade, meanwhile, scored 26 points and Steven Springer - despite a 1-7 night shooting - took down 21 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Noisy Withdrawal silenced the critics for at least one night and will move forward to face the Avengers tomorrow night.

Asked about the comments regarding whether Noisy Withdrawal should have even received a spot in the playoffs, center Dustin Schwartz said, "Four people shouldn't be here, but when all eight show up, then we belong here."

Noisy Withdrawal 65 - Showtime 58



#2 Hand Down...Man Down vs. #7 Respect the Game

This game was a rematch of Week 5 in Fridley, when Respect the Game torched HDMD by 28 points.

Tonight started out differently. HDMD began the game on a 10-0 run and looked to be in control during the early stages. It didn't take long, though, for Respect the Game to get into gear and they ended the half with a one-point lead. In the second half, they stretched that lead to a 13-point victory and earned the right to face St. Baul in the round of 16.

HDMD had solid performances from Ryan Elofson (22 points and 6 rebounds) and Sarak Chea (18 points and 6 assists), but having no subs wore this team down in the 2nd half.

Respect the Game were led by center Grant Dudinsky, who had a dominating performance of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Mike Wiskus added 20 points and Michael Contreras was 5-of-9 from three for 17 points.

Asked how they came back in the first half, Contreras said that his team, "took care of the ball. Moved the ball. Don't count the old men out."

Arthur Williams added, "we played good defense, man. That's the key. Every game...it don't matter who we play. Our attitude is to stick together. We play like we're supposed to play? We'll take care of business."

Respect the Game 80 - Hand Down...Man Down 67



#4 D.Y. Nasty vs. #5 Blue Chips

The lone representative from Bloomington South, the Blue Chips, squared off against Fridley's D.Y. Nasty in an 8 o'clock tilt. Unfortunately for D.Y. Nasty, they had trouble finding the basket all night long.

Shooting only 28% from the floor and with no players having a PPR of 3.6 or greater, D.Y. Nasty was never really in this game and the Blue Chips ran away with the victory. Keilon Riddley had a solid game with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Chris Daly and Romaro Nelson each had 18 points and Jason Briggs added 6 points and 7 rebounds off of the bench.

Briggs said after the game that his team was so successful against D.Y. Nasty because, "we were bigger at every position. They had to double team us and we just made the extra pass. On defense, we knew what they could do and we tailored our defense to that."

The Blue Chips now have the tough task of figuring out what the Celtics will try and do tomorrow night in Fridley.

Blue Chips 68 - D.Y. Nasty 43



#3 Blue Devils vs. #6 Black Mambas

The Blue Devils were at a disadvantage from the start with key big man Kevin Chase missing from the lineup. Despite the loss, the game was close throughout and at the end of the first half, the score was 37-36.

The Black Mambas showed their athleticism throughout this game, including the play of the night: a thunderous, posterizing dunk by Meleyeh Tengben that brought the near-capacity crowd out of their seats. Tengben had a nice night with 23 points, which led his team.

Unfortunately for the Mambas, they missed several shots within the last three minutes of the game and made a couple of costly turnovers. The Blue Devils had an efficient night from the floor - 60% shooting and they made over half of their attempts from 3 (7-of-14) - and squeak by with a 4-point win.

When told after the game that his Blue Devils would face Nick Roell's Riddler squad tomorrow night, Mitchell Jones said, "we gotta lock in on him. When we get [Kevin Chase] back tomorrow night, I think we can go up against anybody."

Blue Devils 76 - Black Mambas 72



Tomorrow night's games are in Fridley with times as follows:

#7 Timberpuppies vs. #10 Bulls - 6 P.M.
#2 St. Baul vs. #15 Respect the Game - 6 P.M.

#4 Riddlers vs. #13 Blue Devils - 7 P.M.
#6 More Hustle vs. #11 Bobcats - 7 P.M.

#8 Wizards vs. #9 Greenhorns - 8 P.M.
#5 Rebels vs. #12 Unicorns - 8 P.M.

#3 Celtics vs. #14 Blue Chips - 9 P.M.
#1 Avengers vs. #16 Noisy Withdrawal - 9 P.M.