The Mens Masters 45 division was comprised of 6 squads full of enthusiasm, experience, and excellence. On Saturday these teams began bright and early and completed their pool play early in the afternoon, with all 6 teams advancing to the Sunday playoffs.  Earning top dog status on Saturday were the Paul Gong’s NY Fishmen & Tim Brenmark’s Chicago Dragons Masters as they both went undefeated.

On Sunday, both Quarterfinal matchups resulted in close matchups that could have gone either way with a lucky bounce here or there.  Up first, the hometown Toronto CCYAA Masters, led by the athletic All-NACBA 6-4 PF Alex Chen, would meet up with a neighborhood rival, the Markham FCCM Masters.  But it wasn’t Chen who got Toronto going- it was 3-point daredevil Al Kung, who nailed a couple big shots from behind the arc to give CCYAA the momentum changers.  In the second half, Eddy Cheung (10 pts, 4-4 ft) and Alex Chen (8 pts, 2-2 ft) started to catch fire, and Toronto CCYAA made all 8 of their free throws to win the game 33-29.  Dick Wang was the man for Markham with 10 points and a triple.  The next QF would see the 1-1 NY Thunder square off with the 0-2 Montreal MMAC Masters.  Bob Chin (16 pts, 2-2 ft) and John Tsang (6 pts) were the early weapons for NYC, while veteran sniper Arthur Hong (15 pts) and unsung Dongmin Lu (17 pts, 1-6 ft) were the go to guys for MMAC.  The teams played relatively even throughout the game until the Thunder’s Herman Lee took the game over for a short stretch, dropping 6 of his 8 points at just the right moments.  Abysmal 2-11 free throw shooting didn’t help Montreal’s cause, as the Thunder moved to the Semis 45-40.  In the Semis, the Chicago Dragons Masters and the NY Thunder played the best game of the day with Robert Choy (9 pts, 1 trey) & James Chin (7 pts) of Chicago going head to head with John Tsang (10 pts, 1-2 FT, 1 triple) & David Chan (8 pts, 2-4 ft).  The game was neck and neck until finally New York’s David Chan hit a big game winner for a 31-29 upset win.  The other semifinal was a roughly played game as the refs let physical play rule the show.  NACBA Top 25’er and Co-Chair Denny Lee (10 pts, 4-5 ft) showed the young’uns in the crowd how old school fundamentals and a jumpshot can get you where you need to get.  The Fishmen really had to earn it as they won the low scoring game 22-16. Ramon Wong chipped in with 7 for NY, and Toronto was paced by Alex Chen’s 9 pts.

The big game was a rematch of pool play, where the NY Fishmen had defeated their Big Apple nemesis, the NY Thunder 39-29.  This game was very similar in terms of tempo and scoring.  There were some key matchups in the Title matchup.  The Thunder’s PG/SG Mike Ho was sick from the outside, hitting some big trifectas, but Ramon Wong (11 pts, two 3-pointers) would usually answer right back for the Fishmen.  Down low, the Thunder’s Kit Chan (5 fouls) was doing his best in the pivot, having to deal with the Ken “Monkey” Chan and Lenny Dong (All-Tournament pick, 6 points).  Yean Liu ran the point for Coach Gong’s Fishmen, while All-NACBA John Leung, Top 25’er Denny Lee, and volleyball legend Peter Ng would do the scoring.  On the other end, Thomas Leung, Bob Chin, and Herman Lee were responsible for putting the ball in the hoop for the Thunder.  With a little more offensive weapons and balanced scoring, the Fishmen took the Championship 36-25. MVP Denny Lee had 9 for the Fishmen, while Thomas Leung had 8 for the Thunder. 

Great job to both NYC teams and congrats to Paul Gong for another big win!