The level of competition in the Men’s Friendship Division has increased steadily and 2007 was no different as numerous teams felt they had a shot at the championship. First and foremost were the 2006 champs, the NY Rockits Alumni, led by the 2005 and 2006 MVP’s, Ken Lee and Kevin Chung. But this year’s squad was dramatically different from the 2006 title team that had numerous scoring options. Still, they knew they had a chance to repeat. Also returning were the 2006 runners-up, the San Francisco Wildcats. A team full of quick, take it to the rack type of ballers, everyone knew the road to the chip would go through them. Other teams meriting a chance for glory included the Montreal MMAC Mars, Montreal Kaitas, NY United East and the NY Rockits U.

The San Francisco Wildcats garnered the top seed in their group by going 3-0 in the prelims. In the other pool, the surprising Montreal Kaitas made their Friendship debut as they took first place with a 2-1 record and the best point differential. The other two teams advancing to the championship round were the Montreal MMAC Mars and NY Rockits Alumni. The Philadelphia Suns B also finished with a 2-1 record but barely missed the playoffs by the narrowest of point differentials: one point. That just goes to show- every single possession matters and every single play is magnified when you’re at the NACBAIT. The Semifinals were all set and the matchups were the Montreal Kaitas vs. the MMAC Mars and the San Francisco Wildcats vs. the NY Rockits Alumni.

The battle of Montreal saw two teams struggling to find their shots as the game went into triple overtime before MMAC Mars secured the victory with some clutch free throw shooting and escaped with a 36-32 win. It was a game of attrition that saw two players, one from each team, needing medical assistance. Andy Chen of MMAC lost a tooth and Cylis Lam of the Kaitas needed stitches to close up a vicious puncture wound on his arm. Man, these Canadians are tough, eh? Old legend James Tsai paced the Kaitas with 10 pts and 2 treyballs, while Mars had superb balance in the scoring column as three players each scored 9. The other Semifinal was just as exciting as the San Francisco Wildcats jumped out to as much as a 15 point lead only to have the Rockits Alumni claw their way back in the second half to cut the lead to one with only a couple of minutes remaining. But it was the Wildcats who demonstrated their poise by hitting clutch free throws and making the correct decisions with the ball that sealed their victory and another chance at the Championship with a 39-33 dub. Huy Nguyen was a stat monster (28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 triples, 3-4 ft) for Frisco, while Kenny Lee and Ramon Wong were the inside-outside duo for the Rockits Alumni (9 points each).