BOS Quarter:Oppland Powers Gateway Past Pump N Run
LOS ANGELES -- Nik Caner-Medley may be headed to the University of Maryland in the fall, but you had a hard time realizing who was the better prospect when he hooked up against Gateway power forward Danny Oppland at the Best of the Summer quarterfinals.
Oppland decimated the Pump N Run squad at the Gersten Pavilion, ripping apart their front line to the tune of 25 points in shockingly easy 77-61 Gateway victory over PNR.
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Sure, Caner-Medley got his points too (20 to be exact), but he simply could not contain Oppland on the other side of the ball. Nor for that matter, could any one of the Pump N Run squad's highly touted big men (David Padgett/Martin Iti).
It might have been a somewhat different story had 6-9 Brad Buckman not sit out the game for the PNR squad due to injury. Nonetheless, you have to credit Gateway and an outstanding coaching job by David Peeters and some fearless performances from his unheralded squad.
Besides Oppland, lanky lefty forward Calvin Williams chipped in 10 points, while guards Kenny Lee (eight points), Chip Sodemann (12 points) and Troy Lindbeck (14 points) made Pump N Run pay from the perimeter and the charity stripe.
A 20-6 run in the first five and a half minutes of the second half helped the St. Louisans extend exponentially on a 45-30 half-time lead.
When Oppland scored and was fouled with 10:34 to play, Gateway held an astounding 65-36 lead over PNR, which featured players from four different states and one different continent.
Pump N Run tried to mount a comeback in the second half, but the deficit was too significant to overcome. Shooting guard Brandon Rohe notched 11 points for Pump N Run, while 6-11 center Martin Iti added 14 for the losers.
It was the second straight year that the flagship Pump squad was knocked out of its own tournament in the final eight.
Last year, the Portland Legends (led by Aaron Miles, Chris Rodgers and Michael Lee) bumped off the Pump N Run team before falling to the eventual champion Houston Superstars in the semis.