Crusty Muskets Win Leaves OU in "Foul" Mood

Reading, MA - In a very close 61-55 loss to the Crusty Muskets, Origins Unknown played most of the game with four men on the court, while the the cranky-crusty-mother-bleepin-muskets appeared to have five or six (if you add in the refs).

The foul disparity at game's end was somewhere around 21-11. Origins Unknown had two out of five players foul out of the game, and two others had four fouls. Tough to win when the foul difference is that big. Are the Crusty Muskets that good at getting to the line, or was the officiating a little lopsided? Depends on who you ask, I suppose.

The Muskets are a veteran team, chalked full of grey-haired men with solid basketball skills and a very good understanding of how to win. They controlled the pace throughout the majority of the game, and were able to isolate their big men for buckets, freeing up their big 6'6" center Paul (18 points) and Steve Johnson through typically excellent off-the-ball movement.

From the tip, Origins Unknown started out slow, and fell into an early 7-0 hole. The crisp offense of last week's OU win was replaced with too much dependence on one-on-one moves, and the Muskets kept a comfortable 6-8 point lead throughout the first half. Things came to a boiling point with Cap'n Mike and the refs when the Crusty Musket's Lil' Ralphie drew a 'charge' with less than a minute to go in the half. From my view Lil' Ralphie appears to be the king of flopping/whining and basically suckered the ref into making this call because I was about to power over his 5'8" head for the bucket. It wasn't the last bad call, however, as Dan Fisher and Shu Patel were called for ticky-tacky fouls throughout the game, sometimes from half-court, sometimes right in front of the blind zebras.

Even with their poor play and the poorer calls in the first half, OU only trailed 36-30 at the break and felt like they were still in a good position to push the tempo and get back in the game.

At the half, the Muskets got a lift from the late arrival of Leroy Johnson, one of the best shooters in the league. Although Leroy did hit a couple shots, he never gave them a big boost, and the second half ended up being a back-and-forth affair. With 2:30 left, Cap'n Mike hit a streaking Greg Robinson for a fast break lay-up and then Stretch Hogan found an open Shu Patel under the hoop. Just like that, OU scraped it's way back to a 50-50 tie and was in good position to take control of the game.

After a defensive stop, Cap'n Mike missed a long pull up three, and the Muskets rebounded and came down the court where Leroy made a right-back-at-ya three from the wing. OU countered with a bucket to trail 53-52, with less than 1:15 to play. The Muskets brought the ball up against some defensive pressure and found Steve Johnson underneath where he made the basket and got 'fouled'. Steve headed to the line with a chance to extend the 55-52 lead, but he missed the free-throw. Unfortunately for OU, it was a long rebound and ended up in Leroy's hands, where he was fouled immediately. Leroy went to the line and made the first, but missed the second. OU came down, and Cap'n Mike got an open look from the wing, but was long and OU was forced to foul again. One of the Johnson's went to the line again and made two free throws to extend the lead. Cap'n Mike hit a three to cut the lead to three, but the Muskets made their free throws down the stretch and held on for the victory.

OU missed a handful of lay-ups, fought through some questionable calls, and Cap'n Mike made some poor offensive decisions (I can accept responsibility), but even though it was a disappointing loss, OU was in the game until the final minute and should bounce back when Pete Martin returns from his fourth vacation of the winter.

Standings and other game outcomes can be found via the link on the right. OU's record stands at 3-3, with a bye week coming up. Following the bye, OU faces Evans in an important game to help determine playoff seeding. The Muskets climb to first place in the league with their win, sitting atop the standings at 5-1.