PTL Recap - July 18
I can't spend a lot of time on this tonight, so let's get right to it.

In the 6:00 round I watched Greg Brunner's team (1) play yet again. Team 1 went on a 12 point run to open up a 33-20 lead in the first half and kept the lead near double digits for most of the game. Matt Schneiderman tried to bring Team 7 back with a hot streak in the second half, and Erik Crawford was solid from start to finish, but in the end there was just too much Brunner.

As in most other PTL games, it quickly became apparent that Brunner was the best player on the court and could pretty much have his way throughout the game. Team 7 tried to guard him with Schneiderman, who wasn't physical enough, and Ev Pedescleaux, who was too slow. Iowa's follicly challenged PF had his full arsenal back on display. He hit four threes, all in the first half, and mixed in all kinds of baskets from mid-range jumpers, post moves, put backs, and fast breaks. Marcus Leloux (ex-NW College) had another strong game with 20 points. I've really enjoyed seeing this guy play because he's so versatile. He's effective from deep, scores a lot in transition, and has some good size and athleticism for a guard. Looking back, it's hard to believe he fell to the start of the fifth round in the league's draft.

Team 7........41.....57......98
Team 1........58.....49.....107

Leading Scorers, Team 7
Erik Crawford, 27
Matt Schneiderman, 19
Travis Brown, 18
Ev Pedescleaux, 12
Jared Josten, 10
David Haywood, 6
Daniel Bohall, 3
Nick Iversen, 2

Leading Scorers, Team 1
Greg Brunner, 44
Marcus Leloux, 20
Kevin Sams, 17
Brooks McKowan, 12
Rodney Jackson, 5
Woody Orne, 4
Oral Wright, 2

The other game I saw was Team 2 taking on Team 5. As I mentioned last week, this game featured Iowa's point guard of the last three seasons, Jeff Horner, against the man who hopes to earn minutes at the position this year, Tony Freeman. Things looked a little intense early on, as Freeman drove right at Horner the first chance he got. I don't know if anyone else thought the same thing, but those two seemed to be pushing a little extra hard to try and get the better of one another. Tony's high energy might've had something to do with the bad shots he took early on, but he made up for it with some solid defense throughout the game. Horner played a decent game too, hitting four threes, though I still think he's way too eager to pull up and shoot the 26-footer when the offense isn't even set up.

Team 5 only had six guys suit up for the game, but it didn't seem to matter because they had two big mismatches in their favor. Team 2 couldn't find a way to stop Alex Thompson or Duez Henderson all night. Henderson was big enough to post up Kyle Schlaak, and his range and quickness were too much for Andrew Naeve to handle. Duez opened with a 23 point first half on his way to a 38 point game. Thompson had a surprisingly quiet 32 points - he benefitted from good passing by Freeman and Jason Price and was able to put back several of his many rebounds.

Play of the night goes to Duez Henderson. Price had the ball in the left corner on a fast break and lofted a pass to Henderson, who was streaking in from the right wing. Duez jumped, caught the ball well above his head with his right hand, and hammered it home for a big crowd-pleaser.

Team 2........52.....59.....111
Team 5........55.....63.....118

I can't promise these scores are completely accurate - I did miss a couple baskets during this game.

Leading Scorers, Team 2
Jeff Horner, 25
Darryl Moore, 23
Kyle Schlaak, 17
Ali Farokhmanesh, 13
Bruce Sain, 11
John Little, 11
Andrew Naeve, 2
Matt Brown, 2
Ryan Kennedy, 2

Leading Scorers, Team 5
Duez Henderson, 38
Alex Thompson, 32
Nate Swetalla, 17
Jason Price, 12
Keaton Frye, 12
Tony Freeman, 10
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