Hudson's Enterprises survive near "alley-oops"

BY MIKE PEDEN

Last Monday, Troy Hudson Enterprises fought their way back against a bye team to win their first game in the Howard Pulley Pro City Summer League.

On Monday night at the St. Paul Salvation Army gym, they had to survive a late assault from the Pat Madison Magic to get to .500. Hudson's team beat the Magic 110-93 to improve to 2-2 on the season, but with under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, they were looking at just a four-point lead.

The near collapse began midway through the third quarter. The Enterprises had a 14-point lead when Hudson picked up a steal and was all by himself heading for the basket. Instead of taking the two points, the former Wolves player passed the ball to Marshell Brown, who missed an easy dunk. The Magic sank a three-pointer on the next play to spark a 21-9 run to end the third quarter.

"We had a big lead, so we just stopped playing defense," said Brown.

MSU-Moorhead player Dennis Williamson played a big role in the Magic's third quarter run that almost got the team their first win of the season.

"Whenever they dished, we tried to capitalize on them," he said. "They had bigger guys, so we had to box out and make sure everyone was running our defense."

The Magic were up by as much as three early in the fourth before the Enterprises held a slim lead for most of the period. With the score at 93-89 in the closing minutes, Hudson scored seven straight points for the Enterprises to start a 17-4 run, preventing any chance of an upset.

Williamson, who finished with 26 points, said the Magic ran out of energy in the fourth.

"All we got to do is keep our head in the game and keep hustling like it's the first quarter," he said.

Brown had no clue that he scored a game-high 36 points for Hudson's team. He was happy just to get his team back to the .500 mark.

"It took us a while to get cohesion," he said. "I hope we can continue this momentum."

Minnesota recruit Royce White added 23 points for the Enterprises.