Brick League Recap: Team ENS vs IBT

The opening night of the B.R.I.C.K. League reminded me how much this country has missed sports. To hear the squeaks of basketball shoes on the hardwood and the constant screaming from players for an “And-one” every time a player drives to the basket, truly was therapeutic and left us wanting more. The first game of the night between RX Bridge and the Outta Townerz, was a fast-paced overtime thriller. The second game between IBT and ENS was a gritty, physical and sometimes ugly 44-minute bout. IBT and ENS showed us what we need to prepare ourselves for when sports do completely get back in the flow of things.

RUST.

Erratic three-point-attempts, bad turnovers and enough missed free-throws to put the “Brick” in B.R.I.C.K. League, rust is going to be a factor in all these games early on. We will likely see that in sports at all levels, all over the country. As Aaron Rodgers would say, “R-E-L-A-X”. Drink in live sports with a smile on your face. After the rusty first half, we saw ENS go into the break leading 32-21. Play settled down in the second half; however, as we saw teams try and extend the shot clock more and run their offenses. The IBT team fought and clawed in the second half and managed to bring the ENS lead all the way down to five with two minutes left on the clock, but their 21 point first half was too much to overcome. IBT hit a three as the buzzer went off to make the final 59-57, but the result never truly felt in doubt. IBT struggled to find looks inside the paint all game and seemed content all night to live and die by the three. If they don’t find a way to find some points inside the arc, it’s tough for me to imagine this IBT team in the Final Four.

As our Score On Air broadcast team of Codey Larsen and Loganity pointed out, ENS has a scary little three-headed-monster that the rest of the league is going to have to learn how to slow down. Boo Osburne (who won Mojo Sportsgear Player of the Game honors), Wendell Davis and Wes Russell all helped propel ENS to what was a much more comfortable win than the score indicated. The three seem eager to elevate ENS to contender status. Wes Russell was electric early on, and really was one of the few to catch fire in the first half. While Boo Osburne and Wendell Davis answered the bell in the second half as the IBT team led by Kenny Council, tried to crawl back into the contest. The ENS team feels very deep, if they can clean up the sloppy turnovers and continue to get scoring throughout the lineup they are going to be a team playing in the Final Four on July 20th.

Tune back into Scoreonair.com as the B.R.I.C.K. League returns to action Wednesday at 8:15 to see Aqua Science face-off with Silver Lining. That game will immediately be followed by Evans & Hill against the now (1-0) ENS team led by their big-three.