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sports
Hardaway leads
NBA pros to title
By Larry W. Brunson
Jr.
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Behind a game-high
37 points from shooting guard Penny Hardaway, the NBA Pros
overcame a slow start and beat the Young Guns, 141-130, Sunday
at The Pyramid to claim the 2001 Summer Pro League championship.
Hardaway played
all 48 minutes and recorded a triple-double.
The Phoenix Suns'
star hit 13 of 25 shots, including 10 of 13 from the free-throw
line, while dishing out 10 assists and pulling down 11 rebounds
to help the NBA Pros overcome a four-point halftime deficit.
The Young Guns
led, 34-30, after a first quarter that ended with the crowd
on their feet following consecutive slam dunks from the Young
Guns' Baron Davis, a member of the Charlotte Hornets, and
the NBA Pros' Shawn Daniels.
The teams played
even in the second quarter and the Young Guns took a 69-65
advantage into the locker room.
Davis and Hardaway
led all scorers with 16 points each in the first half.
Any thoughts of
the Young Guns taking home the trophy ended as the NBA Pros
took control by outscoring the Young Guns, 37-27, in the third
quarter to take the lead and held off the Young Guns to win
the title.
The NBA Pros had
all five starters score over 20 points and shot 56.3% from
the field.
Besides Hardaway's
37 points, Jessie Drain stepped up with six three-pointers
and scored 27 points, Jamal Kendrick scored 25 points and
added a game-high 14 rebounds, Daniels contributed 24 points
and 12 rebounds, and Damon Jones finished with 22 points,
including five three-pointers.
Overall, the Young
Guns connected on 12 three-pointers in the game.
Davis led the Young
Guns with 33 points and teammate Zack Marbury poured in 30.
Marbury added 10 assists, while Davis had nine.
Former Long Beach
State player Juaquin Hawkins scored eight points for the Young
Guns.
All members of
the NBA Pro team were honored shortly after the game with
championship trophies personally engraved for each team member.
The game closed
out the 32nd edition of the Summer Pro League, and the crowd
was not only pleased with the results Sunday, but for the
entire three weeks of competition.
One member of the
crowd hoped to reunite with a former NBA superstar that had
played in the Summer Pro League earlier this summer.
"It would
have been nice if Magic Johnson came back," said fan
Marcus Smith. "I was so glad that I was able to see him
at an event like this one, he is definitely an NBA legend."
Another member
of the crowd would have enjoyed seeing more music stars on
the court again, like rapper Snoop Dogg, who was Johnson's
teammate earlier this summer.
"Snoop Dogg
is my all-time favorite rapper," said Kim Sanders.
"It was so cool to see him out there on the court."
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