Magic Gaming Prevails Over Kings Guard Gaming

Even though there are still several weeks remaining in the regular season, Magic Gaming declared Friday’s game against Kings Guard Gaming a “must-win.”

You may be wondering why a matchup in late June would be this important. The answer is rather simple – the Magic and Kings entered this week’s action tied in the standings and the winner would have a leg up in the playoff picture.

That must-win mentality certainly translated into success, as Magic Gaming showed remarkable composure during two separate stages of its 60-56 victory.

The first came after they fell behind by 10 in the first quarter. Behind staunch defense – which included a huge rejection by Cameron “KingCamRoyalty” Ford just before the halftime buzzer – the Magic limited the Kings to 18 points in the second and third periods combined.

“It was one of those things where we knew that we were playing well enough to be in the game, the score just didn’t show it and we knew there were three quarters left and 18 minutes left in the game so the composure level was pretty high,” said point guard Christopher “KontruL” Cantrell, who had six of his team’s 11 steals.

After the Kings cut into a 14-point deficit down the stretch – they pulled within two when Shane “Safiya4ya” Farrar drilled a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining – Magic Gaming refused to squander the lead.

Jorge “marley213s” Renteria converted on a reverse dunk with 23.3 ticks left to push the lead back to four. KingCamRoyalty, who filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, connected on a baby hook shot on the Magic’s prior possession.

“We kind of let them go on a run there, they were really being aggressive in the passing lanes and really played us hard up until the end,” KontruL said. “I was letting the guys know we need to slow the game down; take the shots we were taking in the third quarter. Props to marley and Cam with those clutch buckets at the end.”

Emmanuel “UCMANNY” Cruz led the Magic with 19 points, marley213s scored 17, KontruL had nine and Bilal “SUPREME PULLER” Almashni chipped in with five points.

Eight teams will advance to the playoffs – the seven squads with the best records and the winner of the final mid-season tournament. If the tournament champion has a top-eight record, the top eight teams will qualify for the postseason.

“(Before Friday’s contest) I told the guys play this game like it’s your last and every game here on out like it’s your last because any losses can really hurt our chances of making the playoffs in such a competitive league like this,” KontruL said.