Written by: Josh Safran
Game two of the Rumph Classic had the most professional talent so far and boy did it show. Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson caught everyone’s eyes, but it was Shannon Givens who stole the show.
Team Rumph Center rode Givens’ (28 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST) hot hand to squeak out a 77-74 victory over Team 8EYE after being down 51-32 at halftime.
One player, Brunson, is a respected NBA pro and a collegiate national champion. The other, Givens, played his college ball at West Chester where he averaged 9.9 PPG over his three years there.
Givens took this opportunity personally and started chirping from the bench at Brunson with 5 minutes left in the game. Once Givens got in the game the two went after each other on both ends. The climax of the matchup came with a minute left, as Brunson tried to dribble Givens’ into a foul but ultimately missed his step-back three. Rumph Center got a long rebound and got a quick two to make it a 74-72 game in the final minute. In the madness 8EYE threw in a sloppy inbound right into the hands of Maurice Watson Jr, who laid in the game winning basket and converted an and-1 in the process.
8EYE’s Josh Treadwell got a clean look to force OT but couldn’t convert. Rumph Center will be taking on PF Workouts in the second round.
