Kansas Holds Oklahoma to 32 Second Half Points in 91-83 Win
June 19, 2007 - United States Basketball League (USBL)
Kansas Cagerz News Release
The Kansas Cagerz held the Oklahoma Storm to only 32 second half points as the Cagerz snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 91-83 win on Tuesday night at the Bicentennial Center.
Kansas jumped out to a 7-1 lead with 9:54 left in the first quarter on a three by Nate Johnson. Oklahoma rallied with eight unanswered points to take a 9-7 lead with 8:43 to go on a three by Jared Merrill.
Five straight Kansas points would give the Cagerz a 12-9 lead, but the two teams would trade leads back and forth through the quarter. Anthony Johnson would hit a three with 48 seconds left to give the Cagerz a 24-23 lead, and they would take a 26-24 advantage after one quarter.
Oklahoma would open the second quarter with a 14-4 run to take a 38-30 lead with 8:33 left on another three by Merrill. The Storm would extend its run, taking a 15-point advantage 48-33 with 5:54 left in a bucket by Tim Barnes.
After a Johnny Jackson bucket, Oklahoma would answer with a bucket by Woodson, before the Cagerz would rally, cutting the Storm lead to seven, 50-43, on free throws by Anthony Richardson. Michael Cuffee would hit one of two free throws to send the teams into the half with Oklahoma leading 51-43.
Oklahoma would use a dunk by Ray Cunningham to go up by 12 with 9:15 to go in the third, before the Cagerz would use a 17-5 run to tie things up at 62-all with 1:08 left in the third.
The Cagerz would only trail by two, 64-62 after three.
Marcus Campbell would score to open the fourth, sparking a Kansas run that saw the Cagerz go up by as many as nine, 77-68 on a three by Steve Lepore with 7:28 to go in the quarter.
Oklahoma would rally, erasing the Cager lead, tying things up at 77-all with 4:40 left on Merrill free throws.
Cunningham would tie things up one last time with a monster dunk with 2:26 left. However, Richardson would nail a three with 2:09 left to put the Cagerz up for good. Campbell would hit two key free throws for Kansas to put them up five with 1:39 left.
Kansas would push its lead to eight 90-82 on Nate Johnson's free throws, and would come away with the 91-83 win when Nate Johnson would seal the deal with a steal with 12 seconds left.
Richardson would lead the way for the Cagerz with a game high 30 points, while Anthony Johnson added 16 and Jackson and Campbell each added 12 as the Cagerz went 33-of-71 from the floor for 46.5 percent, including a 52.9 percent effort in the second half. Campbell would add 14 rebounds and Richarson had 10 as the Cagerz outrebounded Oklahoma 53-47.
Merrill led the Storm with 25, while Michael Cuffee had 12 and Charles Ramsdell and Mario Woodson had 11 each. Oklahoma shot 31-of-81 from the floor for 38.3 percent, as they were held to 32.4 percent shooting in the second half. Woodson led the Storm with 10 rebounds.
The same two teams meet up tomorrow night at the Bicentennial Center with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 PM.
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United States Basketball League Stories from June 19, 2007
- Kansas Holds Oklahoma to 32 Second Half Points in 91-83 Win - Kansas Cagerz
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