PTL preview: 6/30/2013 games
Posted on 29. Jun, 2013 by admin in Iowa Basketball
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
Here’s a rundown of what Iowa basketball fans can expect Sunday afternoon with the three Prime Time League games taking place inside the Jones & Roberts Gyms at the North Liberty Community Center:
Culver’s/McCurry’s (0-3) vs. Comfort Care Medicare/Mike Gatens Real Estate (1-2)
3 p.m., Roberts Gym
Sunday’s first match-up pits a winless team in Culver’s/McCurry’s against a Comfort Care/Gatens squad looking to get back to .500 when it takes the court on Sunday.
The storyline here is Culver’s/McCurry’s now knows it will be without its top pick, Iowa junior forward Aaron White, for the remainder of the summer. On Saturday, White was named to the USA national team playing at the World University Games in Russia this July. He played in the PTL opener on June 20 and finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to Armstrong and hasn’t played with the team since. Culver’s/McCurry’s has also been without junior walk-on Darius Stokes the last two games as he deals with an ankle injury.
As for Comfort Care/Gatens, it was narrowly defeated 96-91 by Pelling/Report back on June 27. Freshman guard Peter Jok finished with 25 points in defeat, while sophomore center Adam Woodbury and redshirt freshman forward Kyle Meyer both posted double-doubles. Woodbury came away with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Meyer had his best showing so far this summer with 15 points and 15 boards.
BlendCard (3-0) vs. Greater Iowa Financial Group/Vinton Merchants (0-3)
4:30 p.m., Roberts Gym
BlendCard comes in as one of the PTL’s two remaining unbeaten teams and looks to move to 4-0 before playing the other unbeaten (Pelling/Report) next time out on July 7. Standing in the way will be a Financial/Merchants team that while winless might be getting an extra boost Sunday.
After being without the services of senior guard Devyn Marble the last two games, Financial/Merchants should likely have Marble back in the fray Sunday afternoon. Marble spent the past week along with White at the training camp for Team USA, but didn’t make the initial cut made on June 26. However, it still remains to be seen whether Financial/Merchants also gets junior guard Josh Oglesby back on Sunday. Oglesby has been out the entire summer due to a finger injury.
Meanwhile, BlendCard is coming off an impressive 127-103 win on June 27 over Culver’s/McCurry’s where it was sophomore guard Anthony Clemmons charging with a 29-point, 12-assist, 8-rebound effort. It also received 15 points and eight rebounds from fellow sophomore forward Jarrod Uthoff in the win. Both Uthoff and Clemmons have scored in double-figures in each of BlendCard’s first three games this summer.
L.L. Pelling/Hawkeye Report (3-0) vs. Jill Armstrong of Skogman Realty (2-1)
4:30 p.m., Jones Gym
Based on record, this is likely going to be the best match-up of the day when Pelling/Report plays Armstrong.
For Pelling/Report, a win Sunday would mean entering its contest with BlendCard next week with a 4-0 mark. Two of the biggest reasons for its success this summer have been senior forward Zach McCabe and junior center Gabe Olaseni. In Pelling/Report’s 96-91 win over Comfort Care/Gatens back on June 27, both McCabe and Olaseni came away with 17 points each and both posted double-figures in rebounds. Olaseni also was able to clamp down defensively on Woodbury to key his team to the win.
Armstrong, on the other hand, is coming off a 107-87 win over Financial/Merchants where it was led yet again by sophomore guard Mike Gesell, who finished with 23 points and eight assists in the win. It also received an 8-point performance from walk-on Kyle Denning and a 4-point, 6-rebound showing from fellow walk-on Okey Ukah in its most recent game against Financial/Merchants.
*Be sure to visit HawkeyeDrive.com following Sunday’s action at the North Liberty Community Center for ongoing coverage of the Prime Time League this summer.*
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