On 27 June 2016, the Bulls and NHA Hawks played the first game of the evening, 7:00 P.M., at North Highland Assembly of God's Church Gymnasium.  Both teams have struggled following the first round and loss several games for numerous reasons.  The Bulls made a big time move by recruiting the league's all-time dominant forward/center, 4-time champion, and future Hall of Famer: Lester Hood.  When they made that decision, they agreed to accept the whole package: 1) In your face criticism, 2) Immediate leadership, 3) and a strategic plan and will to win.  I have written some pretty strong commentaries about the Bulls and even suggested they acquire a coach or player that could manage the skills of the personnel on the floor and provide strong criticism on the bench and now they have him. 

The Hawks is another team with leadership and personnel issues.  This team has loss several games within a margin of 3 - 5 points due to careless mistakes.  The other problem plaguing this team, is an agreement to allow certain players to play in, what they consider to be, special games.  That miscalculation has caused them chemistry issues on the floor and on the bench.

The starters for the Bulls were:  #22 James Dix, #23 James Daniels, #45 Jimmy Foster, #33 Ian Trowers, and #32 Lester Hood.

The starters for the NHA Hawks were:  #21 Frank Wilcox, #11 Kenyatta Hardge, #0 Michael Smith, #25 Roderick Williams, and #34 Ernest Adams.

The game started with the Hawks winning first possession followed by a turnover.  Both teams started the game with several turnovers.  Off-the-bat, I saw much of the same from the Hawks:  Work hard and score, if you can.  One immediate change for the Bulls was that no one had the automatic green light to shoot.  The Bulls' early turnovers resulted from their adjustment to share the ball and play as a team.  Though both teams produced a low scoring first half, I saw effort.  James Daniels led the Bulls with 9 points.  He was accompanied by four teammates on the scoring roster.  The Hawks' leading scorer was Kenyatta Hardge with 7 points.  Six other Hawks entered the scoring book with no more than three points.  The Bulls committed three team fouls and the Hawks committed five.  The game was tied at 17 with 4:42 remaining in the first half.  The Bulls closed out the first half with a 23 - 20 lead.

The second half turned out to be a more productive half for both teams.  They both scored over 30 points in the second half of the game.  By 12:57 remaining in the game, the Bulls had secured a 34 - 21 lead.  Then, they jumped up to a 42 - 23 point lead with 9:38 remaining in the game.  By the time the clock dropped to 5:48, the Bulls began to lose their grip and watched the Hawks', Kevin Douglas (#22), take it to them to reduce the deficit to 46 - 41.  I said, "Watch", because the Bulls did not allow him to score - Douglas "Made" his points.  The Bulls also elected to commit 11 team fouls.  Lester Hood spent much of the game addressing mistakes and holding individual players accountable.  There was no room for "finding an out" by converting to officiating.  Hood challenged the Bulls to man-up and play through the adversity.  With 1:06 remaining in the game, the Bulls were only up by 6 points (52 - 46).  The Hawks played better defense by committing seven team fouls, although they were very costly because Lester Hood scored on four and Jimmy Foster (#45) scored on two free throws.  At 4.7 seconds remaining in the game, the score was 56 - 51, and the Hawks called their last timeout.  No further points were scored and the Bulls received a "Morale" victory of 56 - 51.

The Bulls outscored the Hawks 33 - 31 in the second half.  The Bulls were led by #22 James Dix with 10 points, #32 Lester Hood with 8 points, and #45 Jimmy Foster with 11 points (9 points from 3-pointers).  Kevin Douglas (#22) put the Hawks on his wings and scored 18 points in a losing cause.  That was another close loss for the NHA Hawks. 

The scorers for the Bulls were:  #45 Jimmy Foster with 15 points, #23 James Daniels with 13 points, #22 James Dix with 12 points, #32 Lester Hood with 12 points, and #10 Desi Johnson with 4 points.

The scorers for the Hawks were:  #22 Kevin Douglas with 21 points, #11 Kenyatta Hardge with 9 points, #23 Yohance Thompson with 7 points, #21 Frank Wilcox with 6 points, #25 Roderick Williams with 4 points, #0 Michael Smith with 2 points, and #34 Ernest Adams with 2 points.