In-state rivals to square off for USBL title
Published on June 25, 2005 under United States Basketball League (USBL) News Release
SALINA, KS - (June 25, 2005) The 2005 The United States Basketball League (USBL) Post-Season Championship Semifinals were held at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, KS tonight. The second round was comprised entirely of the four Midwestern teams. When the dust settled, Dodge City and Kansas punched their ticket into the USBL Championship game. The all Kansas final will be the first time these two teams have met in a USBL Championship Game.
Game 5 - Dodge City 106 Nebraska 100 F
Dodge City shot 59-percent from the field and knocked Nebraska out of post-season play with a 106-100 win in the semifinals of the USBL post-season championship tournament.
Nebraska led for the first nine minutes of the game, leading by as many as eight, but Dodge City cut the lead to one point twice. The Legend took their first lead with 2:20 to play in the first quarter, jumping in front 21-20. Dodge City finished the first on a 12-4 run, and led the Cranes 29-24 at the period's completion.
The Cranes ended the half on a 16-5 run, but Dodge City led 52-49 at the halftime break. One streak did come to an end in the second quarter, as Dodge City's Roy Tarpley missed his fist free throw of the season, after completing his previous 35 attempts.
Dodge City outscored the Cranes 23-16 in the third, and finished it on a 14-7 clip that spanned the quarter's final six minutes.
Dodge City grabbed its biggest lead of the ballgame at the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter, when Stais Boseman knocked down a three to give the Legend a 99-83, 16-point advantage, but Dodge City would score just six points in the game's final three minutes, and Nebraska outscored the Legend 17-7 in that time frame.
The Cranes cut the Dodge City lead to four in the game's final minute, but Dodge City held on for a 106-100 win despite Nebraska's game-ending run. Nebraska was paced by 22 points from Larry House, and Alvin Jefferson added 20 in the loss. Dodge City's leading scorer was Renaldo Major, who scored 18. Seven Dodge City players turned in a double-digit performance.
Game 6 - Kansas 94 Oklahoma 84 F
Darrin Hancock and Nate Johnson came up big for the Cagerz, who beat Oklahoma 94-84 in the semifinals of the USBL Post-Season Championship.
Through the first three minutes of the first quarter, the two teams combined for two field goals, and Kansas held the lead for the first 8:40 of the game. Kansas gripped tightly to a two-point lead until the nine-minute mark in the second quarter, when Oklahoma tied the game at 25-25. Jonathan Levy's two free throws with 0:56 in the second gave Kansas a 44-41 lead heading into the halftime locker room.
Kansas opened the third on a 15-7 run that spanned the first 6:40 in the quarter. Hancock drained three from downtown in the stretch, giving the Cagerz a 60-48 with 5:20 to play in the third. Oklahoma's 13-7 run at the end of the third quarter cut the Cagerz lead to 67-61. Oklahoma began the fourth quarter by cutting the Kansas lead to two by way of four unanswered points in the first 1:30 of the final quarter.
Kansas moved the lead to eight with 8:00 to play, and later extended it to nine with 6:30 to go in the game. A Quannas White lay-up got Oklahoma within seven, and with 5:30 to play, Oklahoma slashed the Kansas lead to five with a pair of Mike Mackell baskets in the paint.
A Jason Miller three-point basket put the Cagerz on top by eight, but five unanswered points by the Storm reduced the Cager lead to three with 1:30 remaining. Kansas sealed the victory with late free throws from Hancock and Bryan Lucas, and Kansas advanced to the USBL championship game with the ten point semifinal win.
Hancock and Johnson led Kansas with 25 points each, and Lucas added 17 in the win. Oklahoma's offense came from a pair of former Oklahoma Sooners, as Ebi Ere scored 18 and Quannss White went for 16 in the loss.
The Cagerz win sets up an all-Kansas final, as Dodge City won the day's first semi-final contest.
ON TAP: DODGE CITY VS. KANSAS in the USBL Championship Game on Sunday, June 26 at 2:00 PM CST.
United States Basketball League Stories from June 25, 2005
- In-state rivals to square off for USBL title - USBL
- All Midwest teams advance - USBL
- Blue Ducks thriller 98-97 - Brevard Blue Ducks
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