A highly-anticipated Semifinal between Lob City and Good U took place on Tuesday, and it did not disappoint. Lob City, who was trying to make the Finals to have their chance at their fifth championship in six seasons, brought the whole squad and came out with lots of energy.
On the other side, Good U can make an argument to be one of the deepest and most talented teams in the league as well. However, it was not their night Tuesday, as Lob City rode a first half lead and never looked back, winning 63-50.
Every quarter was really close except for the first, where Lob City came out with crazy back and forth energy up the floor, leading 20-8 after ten minutes. The rest of the way, Good U attempted to climb back using their speed and quick decision-making, but it was not enough.
It was a night to forget beyond the arc for Good U, who shot 4-of-23 from three. Leading the way for them was Ryan Palumbo with 14 points, followed by Randy Butler with 11. Matt St Ours, Brendan Degnan, and Brad Van Fechtmann added more as well.
“We only let up six points in the first quarter, 19 in the first half; we let our foot off the gas a little bit,” said Nuri Mahmoud, one of the leaders of Lob City. “But we had a big enough lead that it carried us the whole game and they never got over the hump.”
Lob City was very efficient in this Semifinal, going 6-for-17 from beyond the arc and shooting 48 percent overall. Star Jose Mercado led the way with 19 points and Greg Holt was right behind him with 17. Rounding out the middle of the pack was Nuri Mahmoud with 11 and Victor Kashouh Jr and Colin Burns with 8 each.
A combination of intense defense, fast transition offense and ferocious dunks proved too much for Good U.
“It feels good, it was an all-around effort, got guys in and got good minutes. It was a great game,” Mahmoud said.
Lob City advances to the Finals to try to take back what has been theirs nearly every season to date. To do it, they’ll have to defeat the reigning champs and undefeated Duje’s Boys. However, when asked about what to bring to the Finals, Nuri knows that his team has a great chance, no matter who the opponent is.
“We just have to bring intensity and energy every play,” Mahmoud said. “Defense and rebounding is our staple of winning. If we do that, I feel like we can put up enough points to beat anybody.”
