Sabes-TRP catches the Playaz falling asleep

BY MIKE PEDEN

Sabes-TRP can rest easy knowing they will advance to the second week of Howard Pulley Pro City Summer League playoff action.

5th seed TRP beat 4th-seeded Errol Carlstrom Playaz 91-82 Monday night at the St. Paul Salvation Army gym in the double-elimination playoffs.

Overseas player Rich Melzer scored a game-high 24 points for TRP despite being shutout in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota transfer Trevor Mbakwe led the Playaz with 19 points, but he too got nothing in the fourth.

Mbakwe's quiet night can be credited to the defense of TRP, who played their most aggressive defense of the season after blowing a 16-point lead in their final regular season game.

In fact, both teams were stingy on defense in the first half. Coupled with ill-timed mistakes, TRP and the Playaz finished the first half with just 39 points.

The key moment of the game was TRP's 8-0 run to start the third. From that point, they kept the lead to about 10 most of the second half, not allowing the Playaz to get closer than seven points.

TRP kept up their intensity on defense to prevent an upset. They moved inside to keep Mbakwe from doing too much damage in the paint and even got a few blocks against him. What may have been uncontested layups in other games were instead turned to blocks by TRP.

The Playaz also continued to make rare mistakes on offense in the second half. The biggest problem was passing, where the Playaz were often unaware of where the ball or their opponents were on the court.

As a result, TRP will get to play El-Amin Fish House Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. while the Playaz face elimination for the rest of the tournament. The Playaz will try to stay alive in the playoffs against the Pat Madison Magic Wednesday at 8:45 p.m.