Tony Campbell (#1) and Tim Sanks (#23) led the Western Division Champions, 76ers, over the Eastern Division, Celtics, in their first game of the NOSBL XVII Finals best-of-three game series.  The 76ers clearly outplayed and confused the Celtics when they bombed the Celtics with 42 points, first half points, from 3-point shots.  Tony Campbell scored 24 points, Marcus Watkins (#24) added 12, Tim Sanks added 9, and Lester Hood (#45) dropped in 3 points.  The 76ers scored a total of 58 points to the Celtics' struggling 39 points when the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Celtics started the game with a 2 - 0 lead and the 76ers responded with a 3-point score to take their first and game-lasting lead for the rest of the game.  The 76ers forced the Celtics to call their first timeout at 17:03 - trailing 9 - 2.  That was the start of the 76ers' run and the Celtics' downfall.  

The second half showed more normalcy when the points reflected the toughness of both teams with the 76ers scoring 39 points and the Celtics scoring 40.   Aside from the Celtics trailing by one point (14 - 13) in the first half, the 76ers jumped to a 10-point (39 - 29) lead by 5:32 remaining.  At 15:50, of the second half, the 76ers secured a 70 - 47 point lead and an 84 - 54 point lead with 7:53 remaining in the game.  The 76ers cruised on to defeat the Celtics 97 - 79 to take game one of the NOSBL XVII Finals.  

Both teams will return to North Highland Assembly of God's Church Gymnasium, Monday, 7:30, 13 February 2017, to play game two.  This is a must-win game for both team.  The 76ers would like to close things out and be crowned the NOSBL XVII Champions and the Celtics would like to extend the series to a game three.