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Can the Hawks become the second team to go undefeated for an entire season? On Thursday, 10 November 2016, the Kingdom Ballers reported to the gym do what no other team has been able to do: Defeat the NHA Hawks. The game started with the Hawks obtaining first possession, but the Kingdom Ballers drew first blood by scoring two points followed by a free throw to go up 3 - 0. Lamont Shuford (#11), Wason Davis (#21), and Santonio Howard (#32) were on a mission to bring down the soaring Hawks by combining for 25 points which matched the total points scored by the Hawks in the first half. Kevin Douglas (#22) gave the Hawks life by scoring 13 of the team's first half points. The Kingdom Ballers committed eight team fouls and the Hawks committed seven team fouls. The Kingdom Ballers was clearly the more dominant team with Lamont Shuford and Joseph Ellison (#33) controlling the boards with backup strength from Santonio Howard and Antonio Harris. The Hawks' Kenyatta Hardge (#15) only scored three points, but he along with Nick Royal (#44) and Ernest Adams (#34) flexed their muscles to manage the impact of the Ballers' inside pounding. The Kingdom Ballers dominated the first half by leading the Hawks 33 - 25.

Now, if you have been following my commentaries, concerning the Kingdom Ballers, you would know that I have criticized them on their inability to score in the second half. Their scores always seem to drop almost 50% during the second half. If they are going to be the team they want to be, that is what they need to fix. Evidently, the Hawks read the commentaries because they attacked the Ballers and went on a 10 - 2 run to take their first lead at 35. Following taking the lead, the Hawks and Kingdom Ballers exchanged leads six times and shared tied scores two time with the last one occurring at 51. The Hawks continued to play through the Ballers' weaknesses and established a four (4) point lead to remind the Ballers why they are the best team in the league with a new 7 and 0 record. The Hawks defeated the Kingdom Ballers 55 - 51.

A team cannot play against the Hawks and expect to win with an "I" versus "team" attitude. The Kingdom Ballers dropped from 33 points (in the first half) to 18 points (in the second half) because there were too many "I's" trying to leave a legacy on the court. Players were fighting to substitute into the game - just to play. Their actions did not show players concerned their team enough to assess how their team would matchup against the Hawks. The Kingdom Ballers have to figure out how to raise their points during the second halves, if they intend to win more games. The Hawks increased their second half scoring by six (6) points. They scored 25 points in the first half and 31 points in the second half.

The scorers for the Kingdom Ballers were: (#31) Willie Haynes with 5 points, (#21) Wason Davis with 7 points, (#22) Antonio Harris with 4 points, (#11) Lamont Shuford with 19 points, (#32) Santonio Howard with 9 points, (#34) Antonio Anthony with 3 points, and (#33) Joseph Ellison with 4 points.

The scorers for the NHA Hawks were: (#10) Frank Wilcox with 3 points, (#22) Kevin Douglas with 24 points, (#34) Ernest Adams with 3 points, (#15) Kenyatta Hardge with 11 points, (#33) Shaun Jenkins with 2 points, (#21) Trea Tells with 5 points, and (#44) Nick Royal with 8 points.