May 9, 2009 — The 40 Plus Basketball League started week two of its 2009 campaign with the Eastsiders and the Legends locking horns at the Educational Complex gymnasium in front of a sparse but energetic crowd. Both teams looked good in the first half with the Legend looking just a wee bit better, but in the end it came down to who was the fitter team and that turned out to be the Eastsiders, who came away with the 70-61 victory.
The Legends, led by a balanced attack, outscored the EastSiders in the opening quarter 17-15 to hold the early advantage. Five Legends players got into the scoring column in the opening period. Ludrick Lake led the Eastsiders with six points in the period.
The game continued to be tightly contested in the second period. Melvin Adams netted six points to lead his team to a 15-12 second quarter and a 32-27 lead going into the locker room at the half. Dean McMillan also dropped in six points to keep the Eastsiders within striking distance, trailing only by five.
The Eastsiders opened the second half with a defensive intensity that was not evident in their first half efforts as they held the Legends to just six points. They forced numerous turnovers, some resulting in easy baskets. A 16-6 third quarter run enabled the Eastsiders to take a 43-38 lead. It would be a lead that they would not relinquish again. Lake continued his hot shooting with six points to lead the Eastsiders in the period.
The final period was all Eastsiders as they enjoyed leads of as much as 13 points, and with fatigue becoming more of an issue for the Legends a comeback was beginning to look more and more unlikely. They never stopped battling though, and after a three pointer by Earl Baker with 4:30 left in the game the Legends were within six points of the lead at 64-58. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the game slowed to a snail’s pace, with a 6-3 run by the Eastsiders to close out the game set the final margin of victory at 70-61. The Legends got nine points from Baker and Adams in the fourth quarter as they fought to get back in the game but both players lost a lot of steam as the minutes wound down. The Eastsiders on the other hand closed out the contest much stronger as seven players scored in the final period to hold off the Legends.
The Eastsiders were led offensively by Lake with a team high 16 points, ably supported by teammates Ronald Osborne with 12 points, Donald Bough with 10, and Pedro Felix dropped in nine. For the Legends, Adams led the way with a game-high 24 points, with Baker chipping in with 17 points.
