Semi-Finals Game 3: Sanatura 76 San Ramon 63

We've only lost twice this season, both in hard fought games going to overtime. Losing on Friday night wasn't a surprise; San Ramon has an excellent team playing in front of their very supportive crowd. The loss left a sour taste because we reverted to some poor habits from earlier in the season; a successful season is about growth, about a team improving as the season goes along so you can play your best basketball at the right time. Sometimes you need a loss to nudge that process along. We got that nudge on Friday night.

On Sunday afternoon we came in focused on the task at hand. The San Ramon gym was packed with a fan base eagerly awaiting their team's victory. Our team was able to block out the crowd and focus on our systems and execute the gameplan. We showed patience on offense against the zone and played with much more defensive intensity. San Ramon's starting center Jefney Anderson was ejected in the third quarter--I'm still not clear what he did, thought it was unwarranted by the refs--which was a major blow for San Ramon's aspirations.

As the game went along we kept increasing the lead, ending up with a twenty point margin late in the fourth quarter. Both teams emptied their bench...and then San Ramon started raining three pointers after a couple of turnovers from our side. All of a sudden what had been a 20 point lead became a seven point lead with less than a minute to go; the gym started rocking, egging their team on for the comeback. Several starters came back in for both teams, but Henry was able to ice the game from the free throw line.

Now it's on to the Finals against six-time defending champ Barva.


Game Notes

• I'm very curious to see other FIBA games, because I feel our refs are way too liberal with the intentional foul rule. On Friday night we were called for it four times while San Ramon was called for it twice. On Sunday, we had about six total intentional fouls between the two teams. 
• Michael Jackson led the scoring with 17 points and we ended up with 5 players in double figures.  Javier Bustamante scored 11 points in five minutes of game action. I'm amazed by his ability to come off the bench and hit shots. Amaurys Ripool led San Ramon with 17 points.