Fish House escapes the Playaz reel

BY MIKE PEDEN

The El-Amin Fish House ended its regular season as the only undefeated team in the Howard Pulley Pro City Summer League, defeating the Errol Carlstrom Playaz 128-119 in double overtime Wednesday night at the St. Paul Salvation Army gym.

The largest lead for either team in regulation was six, and as soon as one team went up by two possessions, the opponent would bring the margin down.

Overseas player Bruce Price scored a game-high 39 points. He said the win will give the Fish House (7-0) momentum as they attempt to repeat as champions of the Pulley League.

"We got a couple buckets, then we got a couple stops and we didn't look back," he said.

Another reason for the extended game was the physical style of play from both teams. Players often fouled on plays in the closing seconds, leading to many free throw shots that neither team missed.

UTEP's Kevin Henderson almost scored the game-winner for the Fish House in regulation, but former Minnesota player Mitch Ohnstad sank two free throws for the Playaz (4-3) at the other end to tie the game at 97.

The reverse happened in the first overtime, where a Price foul led to two free throws for Steve Esselink with eight seconds to go. Price then drew a foul and made his free throws with 1.3 seconds to tie the game again at 114.

The Playaz ran out of gas in the second overtime, getting outscored 14-5.

"We turned the ball over," said Minnesota transfer Trevor Mbakwe. "Towards the end, we had a lot of defensive lapses."

Mbakwe scored 37 points for the Playaz. Despite his high scoring night, Mbakwe was denied on a few drives inside the basket.

The greatest indication that both teams can contend in playoff action next week was slugging it out without their full rosters. Khalid El-Amin did not show up for the Fish House and Minnesota's Devoe Joseph was also a no-show for the Playaz.

"We got to get all our players here at once," Mbakwe said. "When we have all our players, we play real well."

Price did not show concern about the smaller roster for Wednesday's game, focusing instead on what the Fish House needs to go after nearly losing two games in the last two weeks.

"We have to do better communication, less one-on-one, and move the ball a little bit better because we get better shots when we move the ball as a team." he said.