On Saturday, 16 July 2016, the Kingdom Ballers and NHA Hawks returned to North Highland Assembly of God's Church gymnasium to either closeout the series or to extend the series to game three.  The NHA Hawks reported with a 1 - 0 advantage after defeating the Kingdom Ballers 68 - 59 on 11 July 2016.  The Kingdom Ballers reported with the hope of winning to extend their series for another day.  The Hawks and Kingdom Ballers are evenly matched teams, but their approach/philosophy is completely different.  The Hawks approach each game with team spirit that include discipline and trust.  They always assemble as a group of role players working together for a common goal: To win.  The Kingdom Ballers went from being a winless team to a well developed group of talented individuals after receiving permission to acquire Willie Tennyson and Tony Campbell from the 76ers.  The acquisition transformed the Kingdom Ballers to a powerhouse team that every opposing team talked about.  They started winning games and then the anti-trust virus penetrated their armor and prevented the individual players from becoming an effective team.  I hope they are willing to remain together and return next season with the anti-trust virus removed.

The starters for the Kingdom Ballers were:  #24 Tony Campbell, #31 Willie Haynes, #22 Antonio Harris, #11 Wason Davis, and #32 Shederal Hughes.

The starters for the Hawks were:  #0 Michael Smith, #21 Frank Wilcox, #34 Ernest Adams, #11 Kenyatta Hardge, and #24 Quentin Leonard.

The Officials were Royzell Smith and Willie Smith.

The game started with the Kingdom Ballers receiving control of the tip-off, but had the ball stolen on the way to the rim.  The Hawks dribbled down court and turned the ball over, as well.  The Kingdom Ballers struck first with a layup from Antonio Harris.  Both teams started out with a high sense of urgency that caused several turnovers.  Quentin Leonard was the constant for the Hawks by scoring 13 first half points.  Four other players contributed 10 points.  While the Hawks were struggling to join Leonard, the Kingdom Ballers were leaning on Tony Campbell and Shederal Hughes to carry them with 11 points from Campbell and 12 points from Hughes.  Three other Ballers contributed 11 points.  The Hawks committed eight team fouls that contributed to 7 points for the Kingdom Ballers.  The Kingdom Ballers committed six team fouls that contributed to three points from the free throw line.  Though the first half was a low scoring half, for the Hawks, they had Leonard there to keep the team encouraged.  I do not know how effective a group hug would have been (in the huddle) for the Kingdom Ballers because the team lacks trust and the players are too defensive to accept guidance/criticism from each other.  However, the Kingdom Ballers were able to play together to lead the Hawks, at the half, 34 - 27.

As the game entered the second half, Quentin Leonard and Kevin Douglas began to strut their stuff by combining for 29 points.  Leonard scored 17 points and Douglas scored 12 points.  The Kingdom Ballers began to fade even though five players entered the scoring column.  It was disappointing to watch the Kingdom Ballers settle for 3-point shots even when they afforded opportunities for a layup and or midrange shot.  They were taking the air out of each other.  The scoring leader was #11 Wason Davis with 6 second half points.  The Hawks, along with help from the Kingdom Ballers, held the Ballers to 21 second half points.  The Hawks kept their unity train rolling and gathered 38 points along the way.  The Kingdom Ballers committed six team fouls that contributed to 6 points for the Hawks.  The Hawks committed five team fouls that contributed to 4 points for the Kingdom Ballers.  The Hawks went on to defeat the Kingdom Ballers and sent them packing with an ending score of 65 - 55.

The scorers for the Kingdom Ballers were: #32 Shederal Hughes with 17 points, #24 Tony Campbell with 16 points, #31 Willie Haynes with 7 points, #22 Antonio Harris with 7 points, #11 Wason Davis with 6 points, and #34 Christopher Mathis with 2 points.

The scorers for the Hawks were:  #24 Quentin Leonard with 30 points, #22 Kevin Douglas with 16 points, #34 Ernest Adams with 6 points, #25 Roderick Williams with 6 points, #0 Michael Smith with 5 points, and #11 Kenyatta Hardge with 2 points.