The Bama Tru Ballers and Bulls started their NOSBL XVI Playoffs series on 11 July 2016 at North Highland Assembly of God's Church Gymnasium at 8:00 PM.  Both teams ended their regular season with an 8 - 11 record.  I love watching these two teams prepare for battle.  They come in dressed to play, focused, and ready for battle.  The Bama Tru Ballers have built a reputation for playing as a team and defeating their opponents by 20 points.  The Bulls have renewed confidence after closing the season with two tough victories.  They are showing a desire to define and accept roles that lead to team ball, confidence, and wins.  This is going to be an amazing best-of-three series.

The starters for the Bama Tru Ballers were:  #96 David Hardge, #00 Cleotis Brown, #8 Jeffery Lemon, #13 Navarro Davis, and #32 Tony Moses.

The starters for the Bulls were: #32 Lester Hood, #33 Ian Trowers, #22 James Dix, #3 Philip Whittington, and #45 Jimmy Foster.

The officials were Ice Elliott and Royzell Smith.

There were no surprises in this game.  All the pieces were in-place for a battle and that is what we witnessed.  Both teams had six players in the scoring column.  Cleotis Brown and Navarro Davis led the Bama Tru Ballers with 21 points of the team's 44 first half points.  While the Bulls' Jimmy "Champion" Foster and Philip Whittington combined for 23 of their team's 35 first half points.  The floor generals, of both teams, Cleotis Brown and Lester Hood were busy playing "Big Boy" ball as they snatched rebound after rebound.  The Bama Tru Ballers committed nine team fouls that contributed to six points for the Bulls.  The Bulls committed eight team fouls that contributed to seven points for the Bama Tru Ballers.  It was a very physical, but clean game.  These guys are used to contact and are braced for it. 

The second half was all about the Bama Tru Ballers fighting to keep their lead and the Bulls running to erase a deficit.  Though the Bama Tru Ballers led from the beginning of the first half, the Bulls kept inching closer through intermittent spurts of scoring.  Each time the Bulls would get within 7 - 9 points, the Bama Tru Ballers would respond with a run of their own.  The Bama Tru Ballers began to drop off in the scoring department with only four players scoring.  Cleotis Brown scored 8 points and David Hardge added 6 points in the second half.  Two additional players scored 3 points, each.  The Bulls were slowing the Bama Tru Ballers down with a collection of runs.  Lester Hood also began to pickup on the scoring responsibilities with 15 points.  He was joined by #3 Philip Whittington with 7 points, #45 Jimmy Foster with 7 points, #22 James Dix with 3 points, and #10 Desi Johnson with 2 points.  This battle would continue throughout the game.  The Bulls committed six team fouls with Ian Trowers picking up four personal fouls.  The Bama Tru Ballers committed 12 team fouls with Navarro Davis collecting four personal fouls.  This would affect the Bama Tru Ballers more than the Bulls because Navarro Davis is a big part of the Ballers' scoring.  The Bulls made their last push with under 2:00 remaining in the game.  The Bulls finally tied the score, for the first time at 1:05 remaining in the game.  Turnovers and fouls would keep the Bama Tru Ballers trailing in the remaining seconds of the game.  The Bulls scored points 65 - 69 from the made free throws.  The Bulls defeated the Bama Tru Ballers 69 - 64 to lead the series 1 - 0.

The scorers for the Bama Tru Ballers were:  #00 Cleotis "No Limit Soldier" Brown, #13 Navarro Davis with 13 points, #96 David Hardge with 11 points, #44 Christopher Watson with 10 points, #32 Tony Moses with 6 points, #3 Darrell Willis, and #8 Jeffery Lemon with 2 points.

The scorers for the Bulls were:  #45 Jimmy "Champion" Foster with 20 points, #32 Lester Hood with 19 points, #3 Philip Whittington with 17 points, #22 James Dix with 5 points, #33 Ian Trowers with 4 points, and #10 Desi Johnson with 4 points.