(INWOOD, NEW YORK CITY) – On Monday night, Black Ink and Teyana Taylor’s “Taylor Made” tipped the week off with our first overtime game of the season. This one featured a little bit of everything you would expect at a streetball game, the “ooh’s and ahh’s,” elite guard-play, and things even got testy between the two teams as emotions were running high. Last year’s leading scorer Stanley Cespedes (Hostos CC ’16) made his return back to the lineup for Taylor Made after missing three games, but his 18-point effort was not enough. Black Ink had a mystery crew, no notable names, just tough ballplayers. In the end they secured an 86-83 victory.
Tuesday night, just proved things can get “turnt up” at Dyckman really really fast. Heavy Reign opened the night up with a dominant 81-51 point victory over Strictly Business. Steven “Abby” Ruple Jr. (Adams State ’14) led the way with a team-high 19 points and Edis Dervisevic (LBST ’12) notched a double double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Gerald Colds (Drexel ’11) had a hard time doing it all himself for Strictly Business and finished with 14 points.
In the nightcap, The Label had a minor Brooklyn Nets reunion when they suited up Chris McCullough with former Nets teammates Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Isaiah Whitehead. However, Team 914 did not back down and the young guys from New Rochelle gave The Label a game. Joshua Doughty (Lindenwood ’17) was the star of the show despite the loss, finishing with a game-high 24 points. The Label would go on to win, 81-73, Chris McCullough led the way for The Label with 15 points.
Wednesday night, we saw two Bronx teams go at it, Ave Life and Team Kemba. This one however, was over quickly. Ave Life was up by 15 points at halftime and the lead would balloon to nearly 30 points in the second half. Jordan Aaron led the way with a game-high 22 points and big man Moussa Kane (Hofstra ’16) was load to handle, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the 77-62 victory. Kevin Punter Jr. (Tennessee ’16) had a team-high 16 points for Team Kemba.
In the nightcap, we saw two Harlem teams face off, Showstoppers/TMT and Skull Gang. Skull Gang only showed up with five players and their lack of depth was exploited by the loaded Showstoppers. Devin Brooks (Creighton ’15) has been playing very good basketball lately and was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup. Let’s just say he continued to light it up, finishing with a game-high 18 points in the 66-57 victory over Skull Gang. Big man Chris Hooper (St. Francis ’16) contributed with 14 points.
Friday night we got another surprise when Brooklyn Stompers suited up New Orleans Pelican guard Isaiah Cousins (Oklahoma). The local Mount Vernon product went off for a game-high 26 points against Dominican Power. Dominican Power had no answer for him and could not find a rhythm offensively. BK Stompers would go on to win 74-62.
Author Miguel Rodriguez has extensive experience covering the Dyckman Summer League
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