Men’s Overview:
Sunday’s main course featured two semifinal games to determine who would be fighting for the 19th Danny Rumph Classic Championship. The Morris twins dazzled the crowd in their games, Isaiah Wong took the Rumph by storm in his first appearance and Wali Hepburn once again showed the Rumph is his world.
After four nights and 12 games, the last matchup of the weekend is set: Rumph Center versus FOE. Here’s a peek into how Monday night could go down.
Rumph Center
Rumph Center lost to Blue Magic in the opener of the tournament but quickly turned things around. They rattled off three straight victories against Basketball Finders, 8Eye and Rex6 to make it to Monday’s encore.
Their win Sunday against Rex6 was the most impressive, lifting the squad to its first Monday night appearance since 2019.
Slowing Wali Hepburn and his team of South Philly ballers is always a tough assignment, and Rumph Center needed five extra minutes to pull off the 90-86 victory. They had to stave off a 21-point performance from Biggie Minnis and 24 from Hepburn to pull it off.
But Rumph Center has big hitters of their own.
Alize Johnson and Ahmad Gilbert lead the championship-bound Rumph Center. Johnson has one Player of the Game honors in the semifinal victory, and Gilbert has been killer behind the arc in search of his second straight Rumph championship.
The Rumph Center veterans have also helped the new blood find success. Stallworts Shannon and Samme Givens chipped in on the championship run, and Quan Davis has given his team a boost as well
Rumph Center hasn’t made it this far in half a decade, but this year’s squad has put them in position to capture the 19th tournament crown.
FOE
FOE opened the tournament with a loss to 8Eye thanks to Collin Gillespe’s performance in one of the more electric games of the week. Since then, FOE has rolled through all of its opponents.
The finalists took down Coach Tone Runs and Develop Now before ending Blue Magic’s run on Sunday in a 60-53 win, officially punching their ticket into the finals.
Blue Magic was undefeated before Sunday and dominated the field on their way to the semifinals. FOE’s bigs completely shut down Scootie Randall as he went scoreless. FOE also limited A.J. English and Tre Duval to just 13 combined points.
Over the weekend, FOE added NBA forward P.J. Tucker, who quickly became a defensive force Saturday and Sunday. FOE also has the Morris twins, and both Marcus and Markieff had 12 points in the team’s win against Blue Magic.
However, Rumph Center really needs to focus on FOE guard Sam Sessoms. He was named the Player of the Game in the win against Blue Magic and has been unstoppable throughout the tournament so far. Sessoms averaged 14 points per game this tournament and can score at any level seemingly at will.
The stage is set as these two power houses vie for the coveted trophy and equally coveted bragging rights. Tip off is set for 7:30 with a host of events leading up to the final game.
