At 8:00 p.m.., 26 November 2016, the NHA Hawks and Bombers were ready to compete and defend their honor. The Hawks showed up to defend their undefeated status and the Bombers reported to show that they have the personnel to upset/defeat the Hawks. All the "Big Guns" were present. Leonard was there for the Hawks and Brown was there for the Bombers. There was no room for blaming a loss on missing key personnel.
Following the tip-off, it was clear that Leonard and Brown were ready to lead their teams to victory with Leonard scoring 19 points and Brown scoring nine (9) points. Though five other Bombers would score 15 points, there was a sense of individuality. I watched each player focus on shooting with each possession. They did not look to make a pass or to pass the ball back to the person for a better shot. When the Bombers entered the season, they were all about team ball, championship contention, and no arguing on the floor/bench. This game definitely caused them to abandon the goals they promised to obey. The Hawks only had two other players to score, during the first half, but that is all about teamwork. The team trust that Leonard will make the right decisions to put the team on a path to victory. When he is scoring, the team is on the same mission: To win. The Hawks is a very disciplined team. The Hawks committed four team fouls versus nine for the Bombers. The Hawks ended the first half with a 31 - 24 point lead.
The second half was about leaving everything on the floor and both teams did just that. Cleotis Brown (#32) led the Bombers with 15 points and Shederal Hughes (#38) chimed in with nine (9) points (all from 3-point shots). The Bombers were fighting to stay in a game that kept getting away from them. With 14:20 remaining in the game, the Hawks held a 45 - 34 point lead. With 9:56 remaining, the Hawks held a 53 - 41 point lead. Quentin "Quick" Leonard (#24) continued to lead the Hawks with 17 points and Nick Royal (#44) poured in seven (7) points. The Bombers hard work paid off by tying the score at 55 and 60 that caused the game to extend into overtime. The Bombers outscored the Hawks 36 - 29 to force the overtime. The Hawks would score five (5) points versus three (3) from the Bombers to win the game 65 - 63. The Hawks extended their undefeated win streak to 10 games. The Bombers were left assessing their down fall. If they were honest, they would have concluded that they failed to play team ball and that they put too much weight on scoring 3-point shots. Though the Bombers scored 33 points from 3-point range, they gave up 40 points (mid-range) and 13 free throw points to the Hawks. The Bombers also committed 16 team fouls versus six (6) team fouls from the Hawks. The Hawks and Bombers gave us an exciting game. Congratulations to the Hawks for achieving their 10th straight victory.
The scorers for the Bombers were: (#3) Tony Moses with 3 points, (#22) Jimmy Foster with 6 points, (#5) Keith Bridges with 7 points, (#12) Jovan Ingersoll with 2 points, (#10) James Dix with 5 points, (#38) Shederal Hughes with 16 points, and (#32) Cleotis Brown with 24 points.
The scorers for the Hawks were: (#22) Kevin Douglas with 12 points, (#15) Kenyatta Hardge with 4 points, (#33) Shaun Jenkins with 2 points, (#24) Quentin Leonard with 37 points, and (#44) Nick Royal with 10 points.