123Print.com and Playaz stay undefeated

BY MIKE PEDEN

While the race for the Howard Pulley/June Miller Pro City League title is now considered wide open with the losing streak for El-Amin Fish House, two front-runners are emerging with the first half of the regular season in the books.

At the St. Paul Salvation Army gym Wednesday night, the Errol Carlstrom Playaz defeated Information Investors Group 101-92 to stay undefeated and improve to 4-0. Jontae Koonkaew led all players with 35 points while Trevor Mbakwe led the Playaz with 25.

The start was fierce as neither team led by more than six during the first half, with the Investors able to keep up with the Playaz inside game led by the 6'8" frame of Mbakwe.

The turning point came at the start of the third quarter, when the Playaz went on a 13-2 run and prevented the Investors from responding for the remainder of the game.

Fans hoping for Mbakwe's eventual return to Minnesota held their collective breath in the fourth, when Mbakwe dislocated a finger on his right hand. He was taken to a local hospital to have it set, but his status remains unknown. (Editors Note: The finger was Dislocated in 2 places, 1 full the other a partial dislocation, and if he returns it would be in the playoffs)

The nightcap between the Pat Madison Magic and 123Print.com also had its moments. The Magic played without any of their Gopher recruits and several players failed to show up by the scheduled tip-off, resulting in a penalty that gave the Magic a 7-0 start before the first play.

As it turned out, 123Print.com was fine on their own, winning 122-103 and retaining their undefeated status at 4-0. Wofford's Cameron Rundles scored a game-high 36 points with Romain Martin and Mike Schachtner getting 27 and 25 points respectively for 123Print.

123Print.com did not cruise until the second half as the Magic erased the seven-point penalty by the end of the first quarter, all without their Gopher recruits in the lineup. 123Print held an eight point lead at halftime, then sealed their victory by outscoring the Magic 27-18 in the third, the same period when the Magic's Evan Battle went down with a knee injury.

Things loosened up in the fourth with the outcome decided. The Magic fired several missed three-point shots with 123Print playing "token" defense, until Jamar Diggs finally sank one to the amusement of the crowd with just over a minute left in the game.

The El-Amin Fish House will look to snap their losing skid tonight while crowd favorite June Miller Time, the organization's AAU team, returns to try and score their first win of the season in league action tonight.