International Basketball Championships 21 (IC Thread)

by **Saint Kanye** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:11 pm

THE KARDASHIA KIBITZER

IBC 21: SURGE EDGE BANGUELA, 83-82

by Claude Harlan

Surge Schedule - Group F

Matchday 1: L 78-79 vs. Vettrera (UR*)
Matchday 2: W 66-64 vs. Banija (36)
Matchday 3: W 83-82 vs. Banguela (10)
Matchday 4: Purple vs. Jarwel (UR)
Matchday 5: Black vs. Amouraland (UR)
Friendly: White vs. Qasden (UR)
Matchday 6: Black vs. Vettrera
Matchday 7: White vs. Banija
Matchday 8: Purple vs. Banguela
Matchday 9: White vs. Jarwel
Matchday 10: Purple vs. Amouraland
Friendly: Purple vs. Vangaziland (4)

* Unranked.

All games televised live through SKYNET
(Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12
and our new dedicated website, ibc-tv.stk.

METROPOLON - The St. Kanye Surge figure in a third straight game decided by a single possession as they defeat Banguela's Os Bestas, 83-82, at The Ring arena in this Drawkian city, moving them up to 2-1 in Group F of the 21st International Basketball Championships group stages. Billy Forrest's heroics saved the white-clad Surge in this game, as he went up for a dunk with 1.2 seconds remaining to tie the score, drawing a foul from the Banguelan center in the process.

"We had the ball after Adrian [Page] rebounded that miss from the Bangers. Time was running out. However, Jim [James Blackwell] and Fred[eric Trichet] were not open, but I was. So Darrell [Gatson] passed to me. I made the dunk despite the defenders closing in, and I drew the foul. I just had to. The Bangers were pretty exhausted by now, so we had a better shot at surviving in overtime, but anything can happen. The Vettrera game two days ago showed us that", Forrest told reporters. He topscored for the Kanyeans with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.

St. Kanye won the opening tip and had most of the first quarter in control. They went off to a 15-5 start, but Banguela closed the gap to 23-21 at the end. Os Bestas briefly held the lead at 27-26 with a open layup from their point guard, 8:34 left in the second quarter, but the Surge got it back with a run, and held on to it until halftime, 44-41. Then in the second half, the lead see-sawed many times. Banguela even had the five-point lead, 80-75, with a minute and a half left to play until two long shots by Marc Stevens (the second only counting for two, as he stepped on the line) tied the game with 0:53 remaining.

"The close win proved exciting to the fans, but it isn't working wonders for our quotient right now", said Surge head coach Paulie Brewster. The Kanyeans have only a +2 point differential. "We need that game in which we can raise it, or in other words, better performance from the boys. Although I'm not saying that they didn't play good today. But good just ain't cutting it." Next opponent for the Surge is unranked Jarwel, cellar-dwellers with a 0-3 record. 2,407 Kanyeans were in attendance today, including such high-profile names as actors Corey Hester and Andre Ecker, as well as Jalton City Mayor Solomon J. Emery.

Scores:

ST. KANYE 83 - Forrest 16, Overton 12, Blackwell 10, Stevens 10, Trichet 8, Larsson 7, Page 5, Warner 5, Philips 4, Gatson 2, Morrigan 2, Smith 2.

BANGUELA 82 - Individual scores not available.

Quarters: 23-21, 44-41, 60-57, 83-82.

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: #6 COSUMAR

Rugian Na'Rel and company have been a tad quiet in this tournament. The Stallions, of the Quebecois Group C, won against US Devonta and San Llera before falling to unranked Jagellion. Still, the Cosumarites are not to be taken lightly, as they pack a lot of experience (having played in 11 IBCs counting this one), not to mention the IBC 18 gold medal.

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: UNRANKED QASDEN

This is the team that the Surge will play in one of their friendly bye day matches. Qasden's team, known as the Vans, made waves in the tournament with a close victory over #9 Electrum in Matchday 1, as well as their 102-69 crushing of the Nueva Andalusia Horneros in Matchday 3. Qasden seems set to be this tournament's "surprise newbie" - a title we gave to the Surge themselves in IBC 19, and then Ceni in IBC 20.

by **Qasden** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:45 pm

Qasden
Athletic News

IBC21 Quick Report- #QUEvQAD

We are hours away here in Montreal for the ultimate clash of the Q's. The highly ranked Quebec Grim Reapers look to extend their dominance in the group as they face our own Qasden Vans. Both teams make up the top two in the group, with RK Quebec in first (3-0) and Qasden in second (2-1).

Coach Starks had made one sub for starters in this match, that being Tzayne Porter, who will be playing point guard while Justen Hocks lays on the bench for a bit. Other than that, the starters are the same as against the Horneros-

Should the Vans defeat the Reapers, not only Qasden and Quebec, but the entire multiverse will be shocked and impressed by the potential of an unranked nation. Because we just want more little segments to be shoved into this report, we will now show our records in both our blue jerseys (home) and white jerseys (away)-

BLUE vs WHITE
Blue Jerseys • 1-1
White Jerseys • 1-0

Can the Vans shock the Reapers and extend their blue record to 2-1? Or will Quebec use the powers of experience and home advantage to drop kick Qasden out of Montreal? Stay alert for our Day 4 report, straight from the Montreal Forum!

by **Vettrera** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:15 pm

Hudson struggled to stop himself from fainting. In this moment he was filtering through every conversation he had undergone with VCSA committee members, wondering who possibly could have sold him out to Comes.

“None of this adds up, none of this adds up” he whispered lowly.

Rachel was still in his office, but her fiery anger had given way to simply contempt.

“Look Hud, you need to figure it out” She said. “I’m not passing judgement on you, and I know you did the right thing, but if you fucked up and bribed or blackmailed someone you need to tell me. Comes is keeping his lips sealed and someone is going to have to spill. I can try to sway the opinion on people in the Executive Committee, but the Ethics Committee is going to be on your ass like a fat kid on a chocolate bar. What. Did. You. Say.”

Hudson still wasn’t responding, he was quietly swaying back and forth mumbling under his breath so low that Rachel still couldn’t hear what he was saying. Inside his mind Hudson was still combing through every memory, every conversation, until it finally hit him.

“Rowan…”

“The Capital Conference representative?”

“Yeah…”

“What’d you do? Blackmail him?”

“No, at least I didn’t try to. It was a weird conversation. We both played football inside the Capital Conference during the same years. I played for Tigrera U, he was the superstar at Maplier. And…mind you this was over twenty years ago so things were different, but he had a reputation.”

“Hud, you really don’t need to beat around the bush with me. I went to Vicette for Volleyball, only a couple hours away from Maplier. I wasn’t even in the same conference or sport. Even I knew that shit was more than a reputation, so tell me exactly what is going on here.”

“Ok, well I never knew him that well so I had no idea whether it was true or not. But word was spreading around the Capital Conference that he would take advantage of passed out girls. Nobody ever accused him of rape or anything, and things were different back then so it’s not like it was even speculated. I mean, we were in a Central Province yes, but still 20 years ago the CPs weren’t that progressive, hell the West still had some conservative values.”

“Hudson…I really need you to stop beating around the bush here. What did you say to him to get his vote? I know he was one of the fence sitters, just explain to me exactly what you said to him.”

“I told him that we can’t fix how we did things in the past, but he better not mess up this in the present.”

“Is that exactly what you said?”

“Word for word.”

“Great. I think we’re gonna end up on top here. Rowan can’t risk the stories about his past getting out, so I’m betting Comes is just trying to bluff. I’ll talk to Rowan next. Comes probably doesn’t have the real story, and once Rowan realizes he’s the one that’s going to be taking the heat once this gets out, I’m sure he’ll change his tune. We just need to make sure our story beats whatever lie Rowan is telling Comes.”

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:57 pm

Riley Jeon-Keane knew the ball would bounce off the post. She's seen it happen many times in her life, and that was no different right now, as she jumped to collect the defensive rebound. For the 14th time today, she grabbed the ball instantly like a hyena looking for gazelle carcass. It was not a big problem for her. She knew how to grab rebounds by heart, the leap she had to take, the exact spot she had to be and how much power she had to use to outpower the opponent in doing that. It was just a matter of how to be intelligent and calculating on the ball; her body, the 7'0", 269 lbs self that allowed her to dominate women's basketball, was already there and that posed the least of all problems for the 20-year old. One jump, grab and boom. She would grab it. Today's match against Electrum's been going very well for the Grim Reapers, as the 2nd-ranked Quebecois side was leading 63-55 against the Electrumites with the clock about to run out sooner than later. The team was confident in them winning, and with 20 seconds left, were looking to close it out with a little bit of ease.

With 20 seconds left, however, Riley decided to go otherwise. The ball was in her hands, and with the momentum all around her, it was the perfect time to attack once more while their Electrumite opponents were in desperation mode. 'One more! One more!' she heard coach Gagne shouting at the squad, as she picked up the ball and quickly started to dribble. Moving step after step, Riley accelerated her heavy, strong frame with the vitesse. One thing was on her mind right now : 2-pointer.
She knew that this was the right time to seal the win, for once and all. Moving faster and faster, so did her eyeballs and veins, flowing with adrenaline and blood flow. Growing in momentum, second after second, Riley decided to push through, make a huge leap, and she frantically landed a solid, one-handed dunk. There was a moment, more than that probably, of utter disorientation, where she spun around as the backboard shattered right after the impact. Riley had been practicing this move for a long while, after a strength and speed training with her Drawkian skills coach back in club basketball. Riley knew this was a move not to forget, and was not going to fail. Falling backwards after, the first thing she noticed above was that of her teammates celebrating, with her eyes focused on the jumbotron : 65-55.

'So....how was it?' Riley asked as she was lifted from the ground by Pierre-Ian McArthur, her teammate, who immediately gave her a massive hug.

'How good? Dopey.' Her other teammates piled all over as Riley was swarmed by her teammates in what was an epic way to win the game. After all, one person's way of thinking about such a disgusting job to end the game was the other person's way of thinking about such an epic job to put the game away and all.

'Thank god. Thank god.' Riley then hugged her centre partner/competitor/rival/friend Pierre-Ian McArthur. As much rivalry they possess in trying to be the best centre for the Quebecois basketball, they at least both knew and acknowledged their talent. Both possessing similar physical stature, style and of course personality, it was hard not to respect each other for being top of the game on their respective gender. Obviously there were some differences, like their signature moves (Riley preferred using her physicality to max, while Pierre-Ian focused more on Dream Shake) and defensive preferences, but that didn't matter. They were there to play the ball, and for today Pierre-Ian had to acknowledge her success.

by **Drawkland** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 7:01 pm

MATCHDAY FOUR RESULTS! - QUEBECOIS SIDE

This is where my playlist starts to get odd.
Really, it's just any music I have stuck in my head for more than a day, I add to the list.

Group A
West Phoencia 86–79 Nueva Andalusia
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 94–63 Qasden
Levivania 49–87 Electrum

# Group A                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec     4    4   0   331  253  +78     4
2 Electrum                    4    2   2   301  249  +52     2
3 Qasden                      4    2   2   298  316  −18     2
4 West Phoencia               4    2   2   299  323  −24     2
5 Nueva Andalusia             4    1   3   295  337  −42     1
6 Levivania                   4    1   3   267  313  −46     1

Group B
Pey 66–70 Kaboomlandia
Abanhfleft 90–67 Free Swiss States
Alastonia- 66–98 Frenline Delpha

# Group B                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Abanhfleft                  4    4   0   334  276  +58     4
2 Kaboomlandia                4    3   1   278  265  +13     3
3 Frenline Delpha             4    2   2   309  285  +24     2
4 Pey                         4    1   3   300  297   +3     1
5 Free Swiss States           4    1   3   299  329  −30     1
6 Alastonia-                  4    1   3   271  339  −68     1

Group C
United States of Devonta 77–76 Theia Boatia
Cosumar 65–82 Unified Sunrise Islands
San Llera 61–81 Jagellion

# Group C                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Unified Sunrise Islands     4    3   1   332  281  +51     3
2 Cosumar                     4    2   2   301  290  +11     2
3 Jagellion                   4    2   2   304  297   +7     2
4 San Llera                   4    2   2   307  309   −2     2
5 United States of Devonta    4    2   2   285  329  −44     2
6 Theia Boatia                4    1   3   306  329  −23     1

Group D
United Vietussia 68–96 Anglatia
Kirisaki 65–79 Nova Anglicana
Ko-oren 88–43 Nuevo Caracas

# Group D                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Ko-oren                     4    4   0   333  228 +105     4
2 Kirisaki                    4    2   2   307  286  +21     2
3 Nova Anglicana              4    2   2   305  286  +19     2
4 Anglatia                    4    2   2   304  305   −1     2
5 Nuevo Caracas               4    2   2   271  330  −59     2
6 United Vietussia            4    0   4   257  342  −85     0

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:12 pm

Alright. Shake it for me, boys and girls.

MATCHDAY FOUR RESULTS - Drawkian Side

Group E
Rardium 67–75 Valladares
Dunnes 82–85 Drawkland
Yymea 97–67 Mahrcain

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Valladares              4    4   0   0   327  261  +66    12
2 Drawkland               4    4   0   0   348  304  +44    12
3 Yymea                   4    2   0   2   314  323   −9     6
4 Dunnes                  4    1   0   3   294  293   +1     3
5 Rardium                 4    1   0   3   301  308   −7     3
6 Mahrcain                4    0   0   4   272  367  −95     0

Group F
Banija 90–82 Banguela
Amouraland 76–87 Vettrera
Saint Kanye 80–71 Jarwel

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vettrera                4    4   0   0   359  292  +67    12
2 Saint Kanye             4    3   0   1   307  296  +11     9
3 Banguela                4    2   0   2   315  296  +19     6
4 Banija                  4    2   0   2   291  311  −20     6
5 Amouraland              4    1   0   3   282  321  −39     3
6 Jarwel                  4    0   0   4   288  326  −38     0

Group G
Tir y Tan 62–76 Vangaziland
Saintland 94–97 Abaja
LOUDER AND BIGGER 81–74 Cheongji

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vangaziland             4    4   0   0   312  260  +52    12
2 LOUDER AND BIGGER       4    3   0   1   289  289    0     9
3 Saintland               4    2   0   2   362  326  +36     6
4 Abaja                   4    2   0   2   320  326   −6     6
5 Cheongji                4    1   0   3   303  337  −34     3
6 Tir y Tan               4    0   0   4   279  327  −48     0

Group H
Social Justice Islands 60–79 DBostick
Valanora 75–69 The Andromeda Islands
Ceni 81–78 Peisandros

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Valanora                  4    4   0   0   366  273  +93    12
2 Ceni                      4    4   0   0   337  294  +43    12
3 DBostick                  4    2   0   2   320  304  +16     6
4 The Andromeda Islands     4    2   0   2   292  286   +6     6
5 Peisandros                4    0   0   4   278  338  −60     0
6 Social Justice Islands    4    0   0   4   263  361  −98     0

by **Qasden** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:00 pm

Qasden
Athletic News

IBC21 Report- Day 4

Well, today definitely went worse than we were hoping for. The Qasden Vans looked to upset the Spurs-like Quebec Reapers, but that rumor shattered instantly as the Québécois beat the living crap out of the Qads, 94-63. The 31-point deficit punched a hole right through the hearts of many Qad fans, except for those who bet money on the Vans' opponent.

After the loss, players such as Tzayne Porter and Icarus Rybrett suffered minor injuries, while Coach Starks just stood there, more stoic than ever. Markins was able to snag a good 12 points, but a last, the Québécois were just too much on the Vans. In the post game press conference, all Starks could say was-

"We went up against a good team and we tried our best. We'll be ready for them, next time. We've got everyone else in the group plus St. Kanye to fight before we meet again."

The loss sucked Qasden out of R16 contention, plopping them into 3rd place with a -18 point difference. The loss also meant the Vans next match will become even more critical than before. In their next match, the Qasdonians will play against the Levivanians, a team who's current position sits them at the bottom of the group, just below the Horneros.

Can Qasden rebound from this loss and end the first half of the GS with a winning record? Or will Levivania shock Qasden as badly as West Phoencia did? Stay alert for all of this and more in our MD5 quick report and recap report, tomorrow in Montreal.

by **Electrum** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:44 am

Centralis Herald - Sports Section - Gilbert Halliday

Awkward encounter for Jefferson

Perhaps it hasn't been the best of starts for Electrum, indeed, they are in second place by points difference, with two wins and two losses. Overall, it's really a tepid performance that has beset the team. I'm not quite sure why, but subsequent teams not based around that original five, headed by Mirza-Greiner are just not doing the job. They really can't capture the experience or magic of the previous team that led Electrum to it's glory days in seasons long ago. What's more is that that original team was composed entirely of college basketball players, but now, even Electrum's team of professionals isn't good enough, suffering a one point upset loss to Qasden, and a ten point loss (although this was more or less expected) to the Quebecois.

That's when the desperate national federation for basketball in Electrum, Basketball Electrum fired Paula Hobson after the Electrumite team crashed out last edition in the group stage, and hired -- sorry, guilt tripped -- Warren Jefferson into coming out of retirement to take the helms of the team once again (forgetting that he too once led a team out of the group stage once). They didn't give Paula enough chances, even though she led the women's basketball team to multiple medals in the Olympics. Anyways, it was poor from from BE to bring Jefferson back, but looking for a scapegoat, they did. The change hasn't done wonders, self evidently, but perhaps that is just the pessimist in me.

In the Quebecois match, Jefferson had an awkward encounter with one of his disciples. Yes, that's right, Tyrone Mirza, the former captain of the Electrum team, was spotted on the other side, helping the Quebecois as a skills coach. In his late thirties, he's landed a great role, though under great secrecy, for the Quebecois, as some kind of skills coach for some of the players. They're hoping he can impart some of the skills and knowledge that he accumulated and pass it on to them. It is a masterful stroke of genius from the Quebecois, because from that moment when Jefferson saw one of his old players on the other side, he was shaken. And it was evident too -- during the timeouts, he didn't speak with his usual gusto and aggression, and although it was a low-scoring match, the margin could have definitely been a lot more closer than ten points had Jefferson didn't let Mirza's defection get to him.

This is something we can learn from too. We should definitely look to our previous players and tell them to step up as skills coaches and likewise, so that when the inevitable happens, and Jefferson retires again, we have someone else to step up, instead of our limited pool of current coaches, lest we lose them to more defections. Luckily, Jefferson wasn't shaken up too badly, as he managed the team to an emphatic victory against Levivania 49–87. They have a sizable points difference buffer, but as we learnt last edition, that doesn't really matter if the team doesn't win enough points. The Electrumites need to look at minimising upsets, and especially defeat Qasden in the return leg to regain that head-to-head tiebreaker which could be used.

by **Ko-oren** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:30 am

Ko-oren's five kingdoms - Part 2

Arguably, Union-wide integration started with Ko-oren. At this point in time, 500 years ago, Ko-oren was divided into five kingdoms. North, West, Central, South and East, and remnants of this division carry on to this day. The North is comprised of the northern peninsula, mountainous and cold, with a long tradition of a rarely seen monarchy. Matters were left to local lords and advisors, and the kings and queens were harsh but fair and consistent. The East is made up of the four islands, a fair bit more humid than the rest of the nation, but warmer. Its monarchy is largely ceremonial, but the kings and queens there were informed and involved. They even had princes and other relatives to remain on the other islands so the monarchy would be represented everywhere. This royal family cared about its image more than the others. The South had a very isolated royal house, packed away in the capital city of Miradela. While this is a large city, it's hard to get to, and this tells us something about the royal family of the south. The southern region has a very friendly climate, very different from the way the kings and queens here do their job. They weren't involved in legislative issues, but they were frequently seen in judicial business. The Western kingdom had a very approachable royal house, and at times had things that resembled democracies. Some of the daily matters were left to elected judges, mayors and so on, while everybody knew full well that the kings and queens could always step in to set things right. The western region as a whole has a friendly climate, cool but not cold, and is grassy and hilly. The central region is located on the southern bank of the Bay of Ko-oren, reliant on the plains in its south as well as the Bay itself. It suppported the largest city, Aminey, where everything was plentiful. The kings and queens here were autocratic, but mostly were on the side of the people. Whenever this wasn't the case, other kingdoms were quick to step in.

The five kingdoms cooperated on many issues, knowing that they would have to rely on one another for many things. War was extremely rare and usually kept to small riots: angering one kingdom could mean repercussions from all four other kingdoms. It was never the case that one kingdom could have too much military, diplomatic or economic power over the others, even if the Central kingdom had the money, the West had the land and the East was most easily defensible. The North was isolated and had the natural resources the others needed. Just the South had nothing to offer that the other kingdoms couldn't supply, but the South was always a good alternative if you didn't want to sponsor another kingdom instead.

Outside of Ko-oren, just Polaris and the Nine Sisters were regional powers. Polaris was very isolated and preferred to stay that way, and the Nine Sisters had little regard for the northeastern archipelago of Ko-oren. The Sisters had a strong economy by trading with whatever nation came past, and by this point started small colonies on other landmasses (such as Crux). The Sisters were a more or less unified group of city states, while Polaris came off of a several millennia long civilisation. Quickly, the Ko-orenites would outgrow the other two, though.

This started because of plans from the Western king, whose kingdom bordered three other kingdoms, who wanted a yearly summit between the five royal houses. The others gave in once, and from here on out it was a yearly reoccuring summit, held in a different city every year. Quickly these grew out to massive events, with competitions organised around the summit in sports and arts, and for the first time something resembling a national spirit grew. At these summits, the royals would decide on things that were written down, codified, and passed as law in all five kingdoms. Whenever something was decided here, it would become law for all. In wartime, there would be no talks, and that meant that if an issue needed to be addressed, there would have to be peace first.

After several decades of these summits, there was a monumental rule that would be implemented: the heir apparent of every royal house was to marry somebody from a noble house not in their kingdom. Some royals avoided that rule by having the heir apparent marry a foreigner, and then giving the crown to the second child instead of the first. Ths promoted integration between the kingdoms, and good traits from one royal house carried over to the next. Of course, some houses had a large preference for a specific region. A long tradition started where the Central and the South intermarried. The Easterners weren't very happy with the rule all the time, but stuck to it, even after the rule was passed that not just the heir apparent had to marry, but that that heir apparent would actually get the crown. After about a hundred years, there were different houses in charge of different kingdoms, the summits stayed, but the differences between houses disappeared.

This started a golden age for Ko-oren that lasted for a long time. People could move between kingdoms more easily. This caused several things: some towns grew into thieves' dens for outlaws who crossed the border, but the positive effect was that people could now decide where to live. People traveled the land and found that it was incredibly beautiful, and landscape painting, poetry and stories flourished. Different styles and art forms mixed and produced some stereotypical Ko-orenite schools. Diplomatically, war wasn't likely, and economically things were going up and up even more as the Ko-orenites could rival the Nine Sisters finally. Culturally, the Ko-orenites weren't in the shadow of Polaris anymore, and while they were finally on the same level, the Ko-orenites acted.

by **Northern Sunrise Islands** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:24 pm

NSI.BASKETBALL
Jardim leaving Reiokawa? Starter Power Forward skipped on the jersey reveal

Surprise survivors Reiokawa Evangelions followed on the list of reveals but things weren't as sunny as expected for the team. Arthur Jardim, national team starter and one of the major names of the team was not marketed as the main player of the team, being instead replaced by the young, hometown girl Maya Azushima. Rumors are that the power forward could be on the move to somewhere else.

The new Reiokawa Evangelions uniform set.

Reiokawa's nicknames were based after the popular Evangelion toy-set with the colors being ripped out straight from the three first lines. The team starts their season traveling to Ai for a Notaiba Island derby against the Ai Hell Maidens.

by **Vangaziland** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:09 pm

Once again, defense seemed to be a big factor in Vangaziland's victory. The Royals held Tir y Tan to 62 points. Vangaziland only scored 76. They have not kept their foot on the gas as hard as could be, late in some of these games against unranked teams.

"We rest our starters late in games like this", said Coach Tim Tomasson. "A lot of other teams will push and rack up like.. 96, 99 points. We're just looking for a positive result. This year, our goal is to make a playoff run. So some guys might need rest throughout the season. They need to be fresh, come playoff time."

The interviewer questioned him, asking if it was a gamble not getting "Points For' category as high as possible.

"It's a gamble sure", the Coach said. "But we have enough talent to close these games out. The only gamble is whether or not we will find ourselves in a close race with another team."

At this point, no team has a clear lead. Vangaziland is first, but by a game. Saintland could also easily pick up their two games and Vangaziland could drop two and end up in a draw. This was the gamble the coaching staff took in the fourth quarter of tonight's game by not running up the score.

"Having said all that, I think a few players deserved the extra minutes they got tonight. It also gave a chance to see what they've got."

Vangaziland has built, or at least has been trying to build their reputation for having a deep bench. There is a lot of talent that doesn't get to start. One of these players is Mike Marks, who got his first significant amount of playtime for Vangaziland.

Marks picked up 13 points along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. He had his hand on a lot of plays, helping to move the ball. He did a good job setting screens and rolling off them.

"It felt good to be a big part of the offense. I got the chance to help run the offense and play the system", Marks told reporters.

Sarah Overson also picked up many late game minutes, while Yulssen got the chance to rest.

Overson finished the game with 11 points and 7 assists. She showed good chemistry with Mike Marks and the two really came together to set the offense. They would swing the ball back and forth to each other or move to set each other up with a screen.

Their best collaboration may have been Sarah's no look bounce pass just at the exact moment Marks cut to the basket. Marks caught it in stride and let a beautiful finger roll flick into the basket. Vangazi fans really cheered for the pair.

"I'm just focused on helping the team win", Overson said. "If that means I need to play more on a certain night, I'll be glad to. If it means I have to sit the bench, I'll be glad to. We are a unit, a team. Our goal is to win. Now some players might still want accolades, but me? I just want good results."

The idea of resting players translated differently in the center position. Lonnie Knucks is younger and more energetic than Frank Hurcle. This meant Knucks played even more minutes. Lonnie scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.

Vangaziland lacks a third option for center. In the past, they had at least one F/C on the bench. Now it's just Knucks and Hurcle. As Frank gets older, one would have to speculate that Vangaziland might bring another F/C on board. The other alternative might be to replace Hurcle, a major figure in Vannish basketball.

Hurcle still has a punch, at least on the defensive end. He picked up two blocks, had 6 rebounds and scored 7 points in limited minutes.

The Royals returned to man defense, after using the zone in the last match against LOUDER AND BIGGER.

Julius Handsen added 8 points, hitting two early 3-pointers and scoring on a fast break. "This game was more about finesse than the last match", Handsen told reporters. "The game before this one was a fight against some really big guys. This was a return to a game of pace and tempo. A welcome return."

The game's leading scorer was Hectare Yulssen who found himself in a mismatch. He was constantly one step in front of the opposing point guard. This led to crossovers and the creation of space. This meant Yulssen felt comfortable enough to shoot. He racked up 17 points, 6 assists and 2 steals. He showcased his improved offensive game as he threw all sorts of moves into the fray. He even went back to the basket near the top of the key and hit a fadeaway.

Yulssen appears to be most improved from last year, and he wasn't bad. His scoring came mostly in the first quarter, where he scored 11. After that, he became more of a facilitator, taking shots only when open. If he wasn't taken out early, he would have had even more of an impact on the game.

"This was the first time Sarah got more assists than me in a game", Hectare joked. "Feels weird, wish I could trade a shot for an assist." The journalists replied with canned laughter.

Vangaziland looked to face one of the group's tougher opponents in Abaja.

by **Abaja** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:24 pm

International Basketball Championships XXI

Welch's 22 carries Abaja to victory

- By Joseph Ifieomrenike

@ Cliff Side Court

Sadeg, Drawkland

Tuesday, July 19

SAINTLAND

M. Acilius - 21 pts, 3 ast, 4 rebs, 1 stl (7/12 FG)
L. Cornelia - 16 pts, 9 ast, 1 rebs, 1 blk, 1 stl (6/14 FG)
P. Ioannes - 15 pts, 2 ast, 9 rebs, 2 blk (6/9 FG)
I. Magius - 15 pts, 2 ast, 2 rebs (5/11 FG)
L. Cornificius - 12 pts, 4 ast, 6 rebs, 2 stl (4/14 FG)
A. Dexius - 9 pts, 2 ast, 3 rebs (4/4 FG)
S. Axius - 4 pts, 1 ast, 7 rebs, 1 blk (2/4 FG)
G. Dexius - 2 pts, 1 ast, 1 reb (1/3 FG)
ABAJA

A. Welch - 22 pts, 11 ast, 3 rebs, 2 stl (8/15 FG)
J. Olu - 17 pts, 2 ast, 10 rebs, 3 blk (7/13 FG)
J. Nessal - 13 pts, 4 ast, 4 rebs, 1 stl (5/12 FG)
P. Mouyre - 12 pts, 2 ast, 7 rebs, (5/10 FG)
C. Anelé - 11 pts, 3 ast, 2 rebs, 2 stl (3/8 FG)
M. al-Zalahwi - 8 pts, 5 ast, 1 rebs, 1 blk (4/9 FG)
N. Mdamnbe - 5 pts, 1 ast, 6 rebs, 2 blk (2/6 FG)
J. Nicholson - 3 pts, 1 ast, 2 rebs (1/1 FG)
D. Marakwo - 2 pts, 3 rebs (1/4 FG)

94 - 97

GROUP G

Tir y Tan 62–76 Vangaziland
Saintland 94–97 Abaja
LOUDER AND BIGGER 81–74 Cheongji
Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vangaziland             4    4   0   0   312  260  +52    12
2 LOUDER AND BIGGER       4    3   0   1   289  289    0     9
3 Saintland               4    2   0   2   362  326  +36     6
4 Abaja                   4    2   0   2   320  326   −6     6
5 Cheongji                4    1   0   3   303  337  −34     3
6 Tir y Tan               4    0   0   4   279  327  −48     0
Yesterday, the Abajans managed to shock Saintland 97-94. The record jumps up to 2-2, but they still remain #4 in their group, but it was a great effort, and some wondered "If they can beat Saintland, how come they couldn't beat their first two opponents?" Many others asked the same question as well. If Abaja played like this for their first two games, they would have been tied with Vangaziland with a 4-0 record. Unfortunately, they had to split two games. With this win, however, there were more Abajan fans that were beginning to remove the doubt that they had towards the Lions. There are still some who believe the Lions still won't make it out. Why? Because their next opponent is Vangaziland, the highest ranked team in Group G. They will be facing these guys again in Match day 10, and they think the Lions will drop both games. The puzzled fans will be eager to see what happens tonight vs Vangaziland. During the press conference, a reporter asked Head Coach Yuhan Anekwe, "Yuhan, a few days ago, your team struggled against unranked teams, and as a result, you began the tournament 0-2. How were you able to bounce back and defeat these guys after such a rocky start?" Anekwe answered "Well, my guys just started playing more aggressive. I told them before the tournament even started, 'Don't take any team as a joke'. Just because we did well in IBC twenty doesn't mean we should stop the force. I think they finally listened after match day two. I knew that with Saintland coming up, we had to put all of our effort into winning the game. And we did. Now we have Vangaziland. They will be tough, maybe even tougher than Saintland, to defeat. But let's not doubt ourselves so early. We'll be losing momentum." Another reporter asked Joseph Olu, "Um, Joseph. *Raises hand*. Joseph, in the first half, you had just 4 points. In the second half, scored 13 points. What do think got you going after a slow first half?" He answered "Armani Welch delivered a lot of assists to me during the second half. I saw that my opponent started having troubles keeping up with me. He was much stronger, which is why I had so much problems posting up in the first half, but I realized in the second half he had trouble keeping up. So instead of using my strength, I decided to run past him on the baseline. As a result, Welch found me open many times, and I was able to score much easier."

Saintland won the opening tip. On their first possession, Saintland had already scored 2 points after a quick shot from Matthaeus Acilius (SNT). Lucia Cornelia (SNT) gets the assist. Then Abaja has their first touch of the ball. Armani Welch (ABJ) dribbles up the court. He finds Jacob Nessal (ABJ). Nessal jab steps. He dribbles toward the box. He shoots from the elbow, and it's good. 2-2. A few plays later, Náná Mdamnbe (ABJ) gets a block on Saintland's power forward, Petrus Sacerdus (SNT). The ball then comes toward Matthaeus Acilius. Acilius waits, then calls for a screen. Prince Ioannes (SNT) screens Jacob Nessal so Acilius can get past. Abaja is forced to switch. Now Joseph Olu (ABJ) is on him. Matthaeus Acilius fails to get past Olu, but he finds Prince Ioannes. Ioannes posts up against Nessal. He uses his height to back him down and get the easy lay up. Armani Welch then passes to Pápá Mouyre (ABJ) off the inbound. Mouyre sizes up his opponent, then he shoots the three, and banks it in off the backboard. With about 6 minutes to go in the first quarter, substitutions were made for both teams. For Abaja: Calvin Anelé (ABJ) comes in for Jacob Nessal, and Jola Nicholson (ABJ) in for Náná Mdamnbe. For Saintand: Andreas Dexius (SNT) in for Lucas Cornificius and Georgius Dexius (SNT) in for Petrus Sacerdus. The deadly three point shooter Calvin Anelé hits a shot from beyond the arc after a bounce pass from Armani Welch. Lucia Cornelia then dribbles up court. She passes to Andreas Dexius. He pump fakes. Pápá Mouyre doesn't bite on it. He passes back to Cornelia, and she drives to the basket. Jola Nicholson comes to contest. She hop steps and gets past for the easy right hand lay up. A few plays later, Jola Nicholson slams it home after a beautiful lob pass from Armani Welch. With 14 seconds left in the first quarter, Saintland decided to hold it for the last shot. Lucia Cornelia with the ball in her hands. She sees the clock go down to 5. She takes a couple dribbles, then shoots. Her shot goes off the iron, but Georgius Dexius is able to tap it back in! Wait was the shot off on time? The refs reviewed the play. After review, the shot had counted, and Saintland had scored the last two points of the first quarter. They were up 27-22. In the second quarter, more subsitutions were made. Here was who was on the court for Abaja: PG: Armani Welch SG: Jacob Nessal SF: Malik al-Zalahwi PF: Vincent Osu C: Joseph Olu. And for Saintland: PG: Abraham Talmudius SG: Matthaeus Acilius SF: Lucas Cornificius PF: Petrus Sacerdus C: Prince Ioannes. The second quarter for Abaja was really rough. They had trouble knocking down their shots, and Joseph Olu had much troubles powering his way past Prince Ioannes. Saintland began the quarter on a 8-0 run from two baskets from Lucas Cornificius and one more from Matthaeus Acilius. After that, Abaja finally responded with a basket after Armani Welch recieved a pass from Jacob Nessal. He zoomed forward, then quickly stopped with a behind-the-back dribble move to lose his opponent. He shot from the key, and it's good. Saintland responded with a three pointer, after Prince Ioannes had gotten a rebound over Joseph Olu, and kicked it back out to Matthaeus Acilius. Jacob Nessal let him open for a three, and he shot it. Nothing but net there. Another three for Saintland. Malik al-Zalahwi got a pass from Armani Welch. He passed to Jacob Nessal. al-Zalahwi runs to the baseline. Bounce pass from Nessal to al-Zalahwi, and al-Zalahwi slams it home one handed. With 2 minutes left in the first half, head coaches from both teams made substitutions. Yuhan Anekwe put in Pápá Mouyre in for Malik al-Zalahwi, Jola Nicholson in for Vincent Osu, and Mbade Grette for Joseph Olu. Armani Welch dribbles up court, looking for an open guy. Jacob Nessal comes out from the corner. Welch passes to him. As Jacob Nessal runs left to get the ball, he immediately crosses right. He shoots a fade away, and knocks it down. 22 seconds left in the half, and Matthaeus Acilius rips Jacob Nessal. Lucas Cornificius runs ahead with him. It's a 2-on-1. Acilius passes to Cornificius, then back to Acilius. Easy layup. Abaja holds the ball for the last 18 seconds of the half. Pápá Mouyre gets the ball and shoots a three just before the buzzer. It's too strong as it bounces of the iron. That's half.

At halftime of this very important game for the Abajans, the score was Saintland 48-40 Abaja. In the second half, that was when Joseph Olu and the Lions decided to break out. Just two minutes into the third quarter, Armani Welch gets a steal from Lucia Cornelia after he had picked her pocket. He runs up court, no one ahead of him. He lays it up and in. Prince Ioannes then had his shot blocked by Joseph Olu while trying a hook shot. The ball goes to Matthaeus Acilius. He drives in. He gets past Náná Mdamnbe and Joseph Olu, and scores plus the foul! Náná Mdamnbe is called for it. Acilius makes the free throw to convert the and-one. With 8 minutes left in the quarter, Alenau Eryenu comes in for Armani Welch and Calvin Anelé in for Jacob Nessal. For Saintland, Abraham Talmudius comes in for Lucia Cornelia. Abaja has possession again. Alenau Eryenu finds Pápá Mouyre on the wing, and passes to him. Mouyre dribbles, crosses left, fades, and the shot is no good as it rims in and out. Joseph Olu gets the rebound over Prince Ioannes . He fakes. Ioannes jumps in the air. Olu puts it back up. The whistle blows. Olu isn't able to make the shot, but he is awarded two free throws. He makes the first. He makes the second. The lead continues to be cut down, but Saintland doesn't want to give up. Matthaeus Acilius gets off a floater in traffic. It bounces off the front rim, then goes back in. Alenau Eryenu then finds Calvin Anelé in the corner. He saw Matthaeus Acilius zooming towards him. Anelé pump fakes. Acilius jumps and flies past him. Then Anelé shoots the three. It's good! You could hear the swish of the net and now the momentum is on Abaja's side. Three minutes to go in the quarter, and Jola Nicholson comes in for Náná Mdamnbe and Malik al-Zalahwi in for Pápá Mouyre. At this point for Abaja, it's almost all bench players on the court now. The only starter on the court is Joseph Olu. Saintland replaces Lucas Cornificius for Andreas Dexius, Lucia Cornelia comes back in for Abraham Talmudius, and Ioannes Magius is in for Matthaeus Acilius. Ioannes Magius came in the game with a stellar performance. He stole an entry pass from Alenau Eryenu to Malik al-Zalahwi, and ran it up court. He got an easy layup there. After that, Calvin Anelé tried to respond with a mid range jump shot. He missed, and again Ioannes Magius runs it up court. This time he is against Alenau Eryenu. He draws contact, put up the shot, and no good. He did get free throws, though. He made both free throws. With about 12 seconds left in the third, Malik al-Zalahwi put up a shot fro the free throw line. He misses, and Joseph Olu gets the monster put back. Lucia Cornelia then dribbles it up court. They don't have much time, just 6 seconds. Ioannes Magius sets a screen for her. He comes back out to the three point arc, where Calvin Anelé leaves him wide open. Lucia Cornelia drives in, see him on the wing, then kicks it back out. A lot of space to shoot, and he does. The buzzer goes off, and his shot s good!That shot puts Saintland up 73-67. Abaja had their same starting 5 in the fourth quarter, while Saintland had Andreas Dexius in for Lucas Cornificius for most of the quarter. Armani Welch began the quarter with a deep three, about 28 feet out. Lucia Cornelia then lobs it up to the big man Prince Ioannes for a big dunk. Welch passes to Jacob Nessal. He goes into the box, then bounce passes to Náná Mdamnbe. Mdamnbe throws up a wild shot while he gets whacked on the head. The ref blows his whistle. The ball bobbles around the rim until it finally makes it way down the basket. That's an and-one play! Mdamnbe makes his extra free throw. Lucia Cornelia dribbles up court. She passes to Matthaeus Acilius, then she runs inside, the to the left corner. Acilius finds Andreas Dexius out side. She shoots it in the face of Pápá Mouyre. No good. It is rebounded by Petrus Sacerdus. He puts it back up. His shot is blocked from behind by Náná Mdamnbe. The ball bounces off the backboard and into the hands of Prince Ioannes. He lifts up and slams it over Joseph Olu. No and-one foul called. Olu does get his revenge after Armani Welch had gotten another steal. He slowed it down this time. He later found Joseph Olu, who blew past Prince Ioannes. Olu slam dunks it home. With 3 minutes left in the game, Saintland is up by 4 points, and Yuhan Anekwe subs in Jola Nicholson for Náná Mdamnbe. Abaja starts playing faster and more aggressive. Jacob Nessal calls for a pass from Armani Welch. He gets it there. Nessal takes one dribble forward, steps back, then shoots a mid. It's good! With 48 seconds left, Abaja is down by just one point. It's 93-94. Prince Ioannes gets the ball from Lucia Cornelia. Here's the hook shot from Iaonnes, and it's blocked! Joseph Olu with the rejection! The ball comes to Jacob Nessal. He shoots a three! No good! 24 seconds left, and Pápá Mouyre fouls Matthaeus Acilius. They aren't in the penalty yet, so they'll have to foul again. Armani Welch immediately fouls Petrus Sacerdus. It was a smart foul, since Sacerdus isn't so good at free throws. His first free throw is off the mark. Still 93-94 in Saintland's favor. Náná Mdamnbe comes back in for Jola Nicholson, and for Saintland, Lucas Cornificius is back in the game for Andreas Dexius. Here's the second free throw from Sacerdus. He releases, and it's no good! Joseph Olu gets the rebound and Abaja calls timeout. Still the same lineup after the timeout, and Abaja has 19 seconds to make something happen. Pápá Mouyre gets the ball. He hands it to Armani Welch. Welch, instead of wasting the clock, drives to the hoop. He gets past Lucia Cornelia, does a euro-step against Prince Ioannes, and he lays it up. It's in! Abaja with a 1 point lead with just 8 seconds left! Saintland calls timeout. After the time out, they inbound the ball. Lucia Cornelia passes to Matthaeus Acilius. He shoots a three. The crowd shouts "THREE!". It won't go! Joseph Olu gets the rebound, and he is fouled! Just 3 seconds left, and Abaja has a chance to go up by 3. Joseph Olu makes the first free throw to give Abaja a 96-94 lead. The crowd shakes. There are many nervous fans right now. Joseph Olu shoots his second free throw, and drains it! Abaja up 97-94. Saintland calls their last timeout. Matthaeus Acilius gets the ball on the inbound. He loses control, then finds Lucia Cornelia. She quickly jacks it up, and no good. Abaja upsets the #8 ranked Saintland and the Lions are victorious once more. Tonight, the ace off against another tough opponent. Will they have enough in them? We'll see later on.

NEXT UP

July 20, 2016

ABAJA vs VANGAZILAND

COMMENTS • 26,267
Top Comments • New Comments

Victor Ibigwu - July 19, 11:49 PM
Like this comment if you were shaking during the last minute of the game
Reply • Like (4128) • Dislike (45)

MikiD - July 20, 3:27 AM
Olu vs Iaonnes best duel of IBC 21
Reply • Like (3885) • Dislike (61)

Mike&Ike - July 20, 1:03 AM
They can beat Saintland, but not the other teams. Rofl
Reply • Like (3419) • Dislike (50)

Read More

by **Valanora** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:15 pm

Valanora Times
Ceni Clash

If this was to be a tournament that determined the fate of the Dragons in the forthcoming years, then the squad is doing everything within their power to make sure that the VSC does not get rid of this team. After defeating the lower three seeds in the first three games, the Dragons knew that the test was upon them with fifth rank Andromeda Islands next on their fixture list. While the Islands had been defeated by Ceni to open group play, they had sense looked like the first seeds they were touted to be and this was going to be the first real test of the Dragons' mettle in the group. However the Dragons went into the game with a step of confidence about them, as the first three games seemed to bolster their morale with the way they had been able to handle the opposition thus far. The Islands might have been a first seed, they had already proven to not be so much better than the rest of the teams and the Dragons' knew if they could play their game then a chance for a victory was definitely in the cards.

Útírminail Wernarta was set to have the game of the tournament thus far, as the point guard had fifteen assists and eight points to add in the four steals, as the Dragons pressed the Andromeda Islands from the opening whistle to the last and stole themselves a victory. The victory makes sure that going to the halfway mark of the group stage that the Dragons will be in a qualifying position, with four wins from their first four matches and only the similarly undefeated match against Ceni left. It is a very encouraging sign for a program that had so many questions whirling around them coming into the tournament and for Wernarta, it has to be quite rewarding to have such a great game with so much speculation going on to whether these were the best players in all of the Eternal Realm.

Perhaps then it is no surprise that eight of the teams from the Elven Basketball League had scouts at the game between the Dragons and the Andromeda Islands. While the basketball program might have been founded on amateurism, it is clear that such a model will not be sustainable as the game becomes more popular and professional in the Empire. I would not be surprised if most if not all of the members of the national team will be part of a team in the EBL before the start of the preseason and if more players from the national team program begin trickling into the EBL. Given the success of both the Marauders and Calcuttas, professional sports have been known to produce the sort of talent that wins international tournaments and such this likely transition perhaps was inevitable with the Dragons' sustained presence in the IBC.

All that leads to this pivotal matchup against Ceni and who will lead the group after the first half of the group. Rankwise, Ceni definitely has to enter as the favorite, being the second seed in the group and opening up the group with a very tidy defeat of The Andromeda Islands, though they do come in on a very tight match against Peisandros. If you recall, the Dragons had their way with Peisandros and were far more calm in their victory over Andromeda than Ceni was, though the manner of victory is quite negligible. The Dragons do boast the best point output in all of the IBC and the second best point differential, with only Ko-oren having a better differential and in a weaker group to boast. It will be quite the match up and the winner definitely has the easiest path to making the next round of the tournament, an enticing prospect for the Dragons who have yet to taste great success in the IBC.

by **Qasden** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:14 pm

Qasden
Athletic News

IBC21 Quick Report- #QADvLEV

As the fifth game in the GS appears over the horizon, the Vans' decent record is on the line as Qasden takes on Levivania in their last game before the first break. The Lions sit at the 63rd rank in the multiverse, but stands at the bottom of Group A, with a singular win to boast in. The Vans, on the other hand, stand at 3rd in the group, with a 2-2 record at an unranked level. A Qad victory would lean Qasden towards an overall winning record in Montreal.

Starting V for Qasden vs Levivania

BLUE v WHITE
Blue • 1-2
White • 1-0

The Qasdonians, as well as Starks career, depend on this sole and vital game. Even if we defeat the Levivanians, Qasden will have to face the St. Kanye Surge (friendly) and the Electrumites. However, Qad spirits are high and wild entering this game, with energy drinks and adrenaline coursing through the veins of many fans watching the game in Qasden and Montreal.

Can Qasden defeat the Levivanians in their most vital match yet? Or will the Lions stop the Vans and send them down the standings? Stay alert and find out in the Day 4 recap report, fresh from the Montreal Forum!

by **Saint Kanye** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:13 pm

THE KARDASHIA KIBITZER

IBC 21: SURGE MOVE UP TO 2ND IN GROUP F WITH WIN OVER JARWEL

by Mitsy Baratheon-Jones (Intern)

Surge Schedule - Group F

Matchday 1: L 78-79 vs. Vettrera (UR*)
Matchday 2: W 66-64 vs. Banija (36)
Matchday 3: W 83-82 vs. Banguela (10)
Matchday 4: W 80-71 vs. Jarwel (UR)
Matchday 5: Black vs. Amouraland (UR)
Friendly: White vs. Qasden (UR)
Matchday 6: Black vs. Vettrera
Matchday 7: White vs. Banija
Matchday 8: Purple vs. Banguela
Matchday 9: White vs. Jarwel
Matchday 10: Purple vs. Amouraland
Friendly: Purple vs. Vangaziland (4)

* Unranked.

All games televised live through SKYNET
(Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12
and our new dedicated website, ibc-tv.stk.

METROPOLON - "Finally, a big push to improve our team stats. Getting the top spot ain't that far now, we just have to improve ourselves constantly." Those were the words of St. Kanye Surge assistant coach Bernard Foley after they finally finished a game with more than one possession separating the two teams, and won at that. It was St. Kanye 80, Jarwel 71, with Frederic Trichet being the top scorer for the Surge (3-1) with 15 points. Both Alexander Getyun and John Watson scored 13 for the Jarwelian side, who dropped to 0-4. The win, coupled with a loss by Banguela, moved the Yeezies up to second place in the 21st International Basketball Championships group standings, behind only unbeaten Vettrera.

Tom Yuti of the Jarwelians won the jump ball over Billy Forrest of the Kanyeans. The former immediately jumped on a 10-3 lead, but that was closed down to 10-9 with a rare dunk by Darren Overton, and a four-point play coming from Frederic Trichet. Jarwel wanted to increase their slim lead, but their next eight shot attempts all ended in naught. With 2:06 remaining in the quarter, the ice would be broken with a single foul shot - out of three awarded - by Getyun, but by then, the Surge were already ahead by a big margin, 24-11. A simple exchange of baskets until the end, and the purple-clad Kanyeans were ahead, 29-17.

Jarwel started the second quarter out great, making an 8-0 run to close the gap to four, 29-25, when Yuti and the much heavier Adrian Page bumped into each other. This made the former crash down to the floor hard, and after a few moments, limp back to the bench; Page got an arm bruise for his troubles.

Just as Glenn Zexin took the floor for Jarwel, Forrest was replaced by Jason Morrigan. The two centers duked it out in the paint, swatting each other's shots, but as the Surge made more from the outside (they were actually a perfect 5-for-5 in threes in this quarter), they pulled away, 52-45 at the half. Morrigan tired out in the third quarter, to be alternately replaced by Forrest and Lester Smith. Smith particularly had a good showing in this quarter, making a corner three plus a foul from John Watson, and then rejecting Ronny Werton's shot at the other end. In the fourth, the Jarwelians once again attempted to catch up, even getting to within three, 72-69, 5:32 remaining in the game. Both teams missed a lot of sure shots, making the crowd go nervous with each possession. Jarwel finally earned two points with a Getyun layup, getting them to within one, 72-71, with 1:56 left, but the Surge capped the game with an 8-0 run. "We saw that lead evaporate quickly, and had to act fast", said Trichet. We used up as much time as possible, but went for close, sure shots." Page said, "I dunno what happened to Tom [Yuti] when we collided, but I apologize and hope he's okay." There were 2,536 Kanyeans in The Ring, Drawkland, today. Tomorrow will be the first appearance of the Kanyeans' black alternate jerseys in this tournament, as they face off against 1-3 Amouraland.

Scores:

ST. KANYE 80 - Trichet 15, Blackwell 10, Overton 10, Smith 7, Forrest 6, Philips 6, Morrigan 5, Page 5, Stevens 5, Gatson 4, Larsson 4, Warner 3.

JARWEL 71 - Getyun 13, Watson 13, Zexin 9, Adern 8, Franz 8, Werton 7, Thompson 6, Yuti 4, Uin 2, Cert 1.

Quarters: 29-17, 52-45, 67-55, 80-71.

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: #18 VALANORA

From an ungraceful exit from playoff contention with a huge loss to the Drawkland Net Corp last season, the Dragons, the IBC's oldest team (in terms of age, not tournament experience) have now turned things around, winning all four of their games so far and boasting the highest point difference in the Drawkian side of IBC 21 (and second in the whole tournament behind the Ko-oren Dragonflies). If the Valanorians keep up their good work, they'll be on point to get one of the playoff spots in Group H, the other most probably going to the Ceni Snakes, or even The Andromeda Islands Eagles (if they stop struggling like they're doing early in the tournament).

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: #22 DRAWKLAND

Accepting the IBC 21 co-host bid seemed to have worked wonders for the Net Corp. Getting pumped up by a majority of their countrymen cheering on them in every game, the Drawkians are now perfect in Group E, a huge (pun intended) improvement over their first two IBC group stage results. Even as early as now, experts are predicting them to go further than their last two results, a group stage exit and a Round of 16 elimination, while local gamblers have given the letters D-R-K a home in their brackets.

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: UNRANKED UNIFIED SUNRISE ISLANDS

Science has gone very far indeed, as this team of lab-born cyborg players have proved. Team USI are leading the way in Group C with a 3-1 card, their only defeat coming from the United States of Devonta, 78-82. These Islanders being unranked, it's not hard to imagine them coming back for future IBC editions, and maybe for other countries to scout their tech and build their own super basketball army. Could you imagine robots playing for the Glorious Free Republic, for instance?

by **Drawkland** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:35 pm

MATCHDAY FIVE RESULTS! - QUEBECOIS SIDE

No, really, the playlist is in weird territory now.
They recently rebooted that game show, with Alec Baldwin as host. It's a lot more raunchy than the original.

Group A
Electrum 82–66 West Phoencia
Qasden 88–65 Levivania
Nueva Andalusia 64–75 Royal Kingdom of Quebec

# Group A                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec     5    5   0   406  317  +89     5
2 Electrum                    5    3   2   383  315  +68     3
3 Qasden                      5    3   2   386  381   +5     3
4 West Phoencia               5    2   3   365  405  −40     2
5 Nueva Andalusia             5    1   4   359  412  −53     1
6 Levivania                   5    1   4   332  401  −69     1

Group B
Frenline Delpha 77–84 Pey
Free Swiss States 84–70 Alastonia-
Kaboomlandia 76–121 Abanhfleft

# Group B                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Abanhfleft                  5    5   0   455  352 +103     5
2 Kaboomlandia                5    3   2   354  386  −32     3
3 Frenline Delpha             5    2   3   386  369  +17     2
4 Pey                         5    2   3   384  374  +10     2
5 Free Swiss States           5    2   3   383  399  −16     2
6 Alastonia-                  5    1   4   341  423  −82     1

Group C
Jagellion 74–95 United States of Devonta
Unified Sunrise Islands 81–75 San Llera
Theia Boatia 66–91 Cosumar

# Group C                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Unified Sunrise Islands     5    4   1   413  356  +57     4
2 Cosumar                     5    3   2   392  356  +36     3
3 United States of Devonta    5    3   2   380  403  −23     3
4 San Llera                   5    2   3   382  390   −8     2
5 Jagellion                   5    2   3   378  392  −14     2
6 Theia Boatia                5    1   4   372  420  −48     1

Group D
Nuevo Caracas 66–83 United Vietussia
Nova Anglicana 58–60 Ko-oren
Anglatia 80–76 Kirisaki

# Group D                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Ko-oren                     5    5   0   393  286 +107     5
2 Anglatia                    5    3   2   384  381   +3     3
3 Kirisaki                    5    2   3   383  366  +17     2
4 Nova Anglicana              5    2   3   363  346  +17     2
5 Nuevo Caracas               5    2   3   337  413  −76     2
6 United Vietussia            5    1   4   340  408  −68     1

This is the last day of the first leg of the group stage. Tomorrow will be the first friendlies, scorinated by me (looks like there's only 3 confirmed for tomorrow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:28 pm

MATCHDAY FIVE RESULTS! - DRAWKIAN SIDE

Group E
Drawkland 88–86 Valladares
Rardium 76–88 Mahrcain
Dunnes 84–76 Yymea

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Drawkland               5    5   0   0   436  390  +46    15
2 Valladares              5    4   0   1   413  349  +64    12
3 Dunnes                  5    2   0   3   378  369   +9     6
4 Yymea                   5    2   0   3   390  407  −17     6
5 Rardium                 5    1   0   4   377  396  −19     3
6 Mahrcain                5    1   0   4   360  443  −83     3

Group F
Vettrera 77–78 Banguela
Banija 88–75 Jarwel
Saint Kanye 72–83 Amouraland

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vettrera                5    4   0   1   436  370  +66    12
2 Banguela                5    3   0   2   393  373  +20     9
3 Saint Kanye             5    3   0   2   379  379    0     9
4 Banija                  5    3   0   2   379  386   −7     9
5 Amouraland              5    2   0   3   365  393  −28     6
6 Jarwel                  5    0   0   5   363  414  −51     0

Group G
Abaja 89–78 Vangaziland
Tir y Tan 78–101 Cheongji
LOUDER AND BIGGER 65–81 Saintland

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vangaziland             5    4   0   1   390  349  +41    12
2 Saintland               5    3   0   2   443  391  +52     9
3 Abaja                   5    3   0   2   409  404   +5     9
4 LOUDER AND BIGGER       5    3   0   2   354  370  −16     9
5 Cheongji                5    2   0   3   404  415  −11     6
6 Tir y Tan               5    0   0   5   357  428  −71     0

Group H
The Andromeda Islands 75–70 DBostick
Social Justice Islands 84–74 Peisandros
Valanora 71–70 Ceni

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Valanora                  5    5   0   0   437  343  +94    15
2 Ceni                      5    4   0   1   407  365  +42    12
3 The Andromeda Islands     5    3   0   2   367  356  +11     9
4 DBostick                  5    2   0   3   390  379  +11     6
5 Social Justice Islands    5    1   0   4   347  435  −88     3
6 Peisandros                5    0   0   5   352  422  −70     0

by **Qasden** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 9:21 pm

Qasden
Athletic News

IBC21 Report- Day 5

And that concludes the first half of the group stage, folks. The Qasden Vans will sleep good tonight as they dominated the Levivanians today, 88 to 65. The 23-point victory welcomed Qasden's point difference back into the positive side, giving them a +5 average. Markins outplayed the Levivanians, earning himself 17 points in the process. Other Qad starters, such as Ulemar (SF) and Okasayo (PF), also reached double-digit status.

After the match Starks looked at us with a grin, a very rare sight from the usually stoic coach. "Today's win may have just been against a struggling team, but this game also meant something more. Tonight, we showed the world that we can defeat a commonly-favored ranked team. We showed tonight what we've shown the multiverse against opponents, Nueva Andalusia and Electrum. We may be unranked, but that just fuels us to train and practice harder than the common team, to watch the techniques of our opponents, to attract scouts from across the multiverse to hire Vans into their leagues. Tonight, we've proven our underdog status to be off and on. Now, we must prepare to fight, because many teams will seek vengeance or superiority against us in the second half in Ottawa. St. Kanye and Electrum will be no easy feats, especially after enraging on of them. From now on, every single game we play will be vital towards success in this tournament."

The victory raised their status in their away jerseys to 2-0, with the other victory being against the Horneros. The Qads did, however, not move up in the group standings, as the Electrumites' 16-point win over West Phoencia rose their PD to +63 more than Qasden's. Still, both nations are fighting for that oh-so sweet playoff spot.

The Vans next match will be a simple friendly against a powerful opponent, the St. Kanye Surge. Ranked 3rd in the world and are attempting to defend their title, the purple and lime look to use this match against Qasden to prepare themselves for their second encounter with their own adversaries in Group F, while Qasden wants to harness the intensity of this match to prepare themselves for their next huge match. Let's just say that a Qad victory in this game would shock the multiverse, even if it's just a friendly.

After the Vans vs Surge exhibition match, Team Qasden will travel to Ottawa, where they will rematch against the Electrumites in a critical game for both teams. The Palladium will surely have a sold-out crowd here, as fans from both nations would not want to miss this match for any reason. Electrum, ranked 9th in the world and 2nd in the group, is seeking revenge on MD1 and to have the upper hand in the head-to-head record. The Vans, on the other side, need this win to give them a better shot at entering the knockouts, making this a vital match in an almost "win or go home"-like situation.

Can the Vans defeat the Surge in the 1st break friendly? Will St. Kanye take this opportunity seriously and oblivious Qasden? Stay alert for the quick report, #STKvQAD, as well as the full report tomorrow, straight outta Quebec.

by **Vangaziland** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 3:31 am

Vangaziland suffered a setback, losing to Abaja by 11 points. It was a mediocre performance by Vangaziland, one where they stalled and never seemed to find a rhythm.

The difference may have been Hectare Yulssen's play. He only picked up 10 points to go along with 6 assists. Vangaziland has scored around 78 points before in their victories. That wasn't enough for Vangaziland to win to win tonight.

Overson also had limited scoring opportunities in the backup point guard spot. She scored 6 and picked up 4 assists in limited minutes. She had a nice alley-oop pass to Jon Jennsen in the second quarter.

The play brought life to Vangaziland, who started a run. But Vangaziland had lost the lead before the third quarter started.

Lonnie Knucks led Vannish scoring with 16. Although the rest of his team had an off shooting night, the center looked fresh. He posted up and ran his game against Abaja, undaunted.

"It felt like we were up against a wall", Knucks said, "And I don't mean Abaja. I mean ourselves. Our guys missed shots we would normally make."

The coach also spoke on the loss.

"This happens in basketball. Some nights, the shot just doesn't fall. Some nights, the defense just has your number. If anything, the fact that Abaja beat us shows we have the chance to beat one of the tougher, top 2 teams."

The coach was forced to give his starters full minutes in a season where he had been looking to rest them.

"I don't think the rest plan affected this loss", said Coach Tomasson. "It was just our turn for a bad game."

Vangaziland would hope to avoid similar losses in the future. The coach was asked about what he'd like to change as the season goes on.

"We have to get more aggressive. We have to close games out", he responded.

Yulssen was interviewed about his cold performance and the team's loss. "I feel bad I let the team down. But the loss? Nothing is wrong with losing. It's a matter of not losing too often. The chance for going undefeated was slim. So we took our loss. We won a tough game against Saintland earlier. We face both these teams again. Now we know we need to keep pushing. We can't take any games for granted."

Julius Handsen added 11 points, having a major hand in this game. He scored three 3-pointers and a layup. The shooting guard has had a limited, but important role in Vangaziland's previous victories.

The media asked Handsen if he thought an unranked team would beat Vangaziland this year. "Some unranked teams are better than they seem", the shooting guard replied. "Every team has their style, their angle. If one of them go on a hot streak, anything can happen. I'm a realist. This is not pro club basketball. These teams are made up of their nation's best players. Any team can pull off an isolated win. One or two wins don't make the team."

The Vannish athletes braced themselves for news articles coming out of Abaja that should be quite happy about their win over Vangaziland.

Jon Jennsen also scored 10 points. He joked about his performance. "Any game where I'm one of the top scorers is a bad day for the team", he quipped. The Vangazi is not known for scoring, but for rebounding. Tonight he only grabbed 7 rebounds as Vangaziland lost the battle of the boards. He did add a block.

The real problem was Vangaziland's defense. It looked ineffective tonight. There were a few holes that got exploited.

"We'll study the tape and look to do better in our next game against Abaja", said Assistant Coach Kate Foyelson. "We made some good runs, but found ourselves closed out late in the game. We can gameplan and study from this. Sometimes, a loss has a silver lining. We'll apply lessons learned here to future games against tougher teams."

The Royals seemed upbeat, despite their loss. Their egos were less attached to the win-loss column than other teams. They still led their group, which was their goal. They needed to keep things just as strong in the second leg of the season. Saintland and Abaja were just one game back. It was time for Vangaziland to step up and show that they can make another run.

Lonnie Knucks, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Julius Handsen, 11 points, 4 rebounds
Jon Jennsen, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block
Hectare Yulssen, 10 points, 6 assists, 1 block
Christopher Ironwrought, 8 points, 5 rebounds
Sarah Overson, 6 points, 4 assists, 1 steal
Mike Marks, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Fred Sokol, 5 points, 1 assist
Manny Battle, 4 points, 2 rebounds
Frank Hurcle, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block

by **Abaja** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:47 am

International Basketball Championships XXI

Abaja powers past Vangaziland, win 3rd straight

- By Iman al-Farouq

@ Cliff Side Court

Sadeg, Drawkland

Wednesday, July 20

ABAJA

J. Olu - 15 pts, 14 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk (7/11 FG)
P. Mouyre - 15 pts, 4 rebs, 4 ast, 2 stl (5/11 FG)
J. Nessal - 14 pts, 2 rebs, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk (6/15 FG)
A. Welch - 12 pts, 1 rebs, 7 ast, 2 stl (4/10 FG)
M. al-Zalahwi - 10 pts, 3 rebs, 2 ast (4/8 FG)
C. Anelé - 8 pts, 3 rebs, 4 ast, 1 blk (3/6 FG)
N. Mdamnbe - 6 pts, 5 rebs, (3/4 FG)
J. Nicholson - 5 pts, 3 rebs, 1 stl (2/4 FG)
D. Marakwo - 2 pts, 1 rebs, 2 ast (1/3 FG)
M. Ojeije - 2 pts, 2 reb (1/2 FG)
VANGAZILAND

L. Knucks, 16 pts, 7 rebs, 1 blk (6/14 FG)
J. Handsen, 11 pts, 4 rebs (4/10 FG)
J. Jennsen, 10 pts, 6 rebs, 1 blk (4/9 FG)
H. Yulssen, 10 pts, 6 ast, 1 blk (4/11 FG)
C. Ironwrought, 8 pts, 5 rebs (4/6 FG)
S. Overson, 6 pts, 4 ast, 1 stl (3/5 FG)
M. Marks, 6 pts, 2 rebs, 1 ast (3/6 FG)
F. Sokol, 5 pts, 1 ast (2/4 FG)
M. Battle, 4 pts, 2 rebs (2/2 FG)
F. Hurcle, 2 pts, 6 rebs, 1 blk (1/4 FG)

89 - 78

GROUP G

Abaja 89–78 Vangaziland
Tir y Tan 78–101 Cheongji
LOUDER AND BIGGER 65–81 Saintland
Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vangaziland             5    4   0   1   390  349  +41    12
2 Saintland               5    3   0   2   443  391  +52     9
3 Abaja                   5    3   0   2   409  404   +5     9
4 LOUDER AND BIGGER       5    3   0   2   354  370  −16     9
5 Cheongji                5    2   0   3   404  415  −11     6
6 Tir y Tan               5    0   0   5   357  428  −71     0
Last night, Abaja was facing off against their toughest opponent of IBC 21; Vangaziland. The Lions somehow managed to defeat, yes defeat the Royals. This gives Vangaziland their first loss of the tournament. It was so unbelievable in some people's eyes, that a struggling team such as Abaja actually managed to defeat not just Saintland, but Vangaziland too. Vangaziland had the talent, but their players had a really tough time trying to knock down their shots. The Lions now come into the break with a 3-2 record and raises them to 3rd place in the standings. Not too shabby, but more work must be done in order to jump ahead of Saintland in the standings. They are reaching for that second spot, but it would be even better to possibly get the first spot too. They are close, they just need a few miracles. If that happens, then you'll probably see Abaja in the round of 16 for the second straight time, but there is still a lot of time to decide whether that will happen or not. Tomorrow, they'll get a rematch against LOUDER AND BIGGER, a team who had defeated them on match day 1. After such a disappointing loss, the Lions will prepare to do their best this time, so that the Lions fans won't leave the game shaking their heads once more. In the press conference, a reporter asked Head Coach Yuhan Anekwe, "With this win, how do you feel about the remainder of your schedule?" He answered "I think me and my team feel more comfortable and confident like we should be. But just because we can defeat the best team in our group doesn't mean to take our foot off the gas. We have to keep playing hard, because you never know if one of them could whoop our ass next time around. But as for the rest of the schedule, we SHOULD be able to defeat our next two match ups, like we SHOULD'VE done the first time. As for the games against Saintland and Vangaziland in match days 9 and 10, I'm not sure. We'll just have to keep the pedal to the metal." A reporter asked Joseph Olu a question. He said to him, "Mr. Olu, your performance has stepped up recently. How do think your game will carry into you next match up against LOUDER AND BIGGER?" He answered "I think with how I'm playing right now will really help my team next game against LAB. I'm getting more rebounds then before in my past IBC's, and scoring more points. I'm playing just how I was in the ANBL finals. That was until Armani Welch snatched the title from me. Heh. We are starting to play sharper and more aggressive. And knowing that we can defeat Saintland and Vangaziland gives us more confidence heading into the break."

With their final game in the city of Sadeg, Drawkland, the Lions again come in looking for another victory, this time over a team ranked #4. Their opponent, Vangaziland, was looking to remain undefeated in this last game of the first leg. Joseph Olu (ABJ) won the tip off for Abaja. The Lions took it slow during their first possession of the game. Armani Welch (ABJ) passes to Jacob Nessal (ABJ). Nessal pump fakes, dribbles right, then puts up a shot from the key. It's no good, and the Vannish center Lonnie Knucks (VAN) gets the rebound, and passes it up to the floor general Hectare Yulssen (VAN). Yulssen Yulssen calls for a screen after he dribbles up court. He gets, and leaves him space to shoot. He does. It's a three pointer, but it would not fall. Luckily for the Royals, Jon Jennsen (VAN) is there for the offensive rebound, and he shoots it back up and in over Náná Mdamnbe (ABJ). Abaja then passes it in. Armani Welch is jogging up court with the ball in his hands. He sees Joseph Olu post up against Lonnie Knucks. Olu gets the pass from Welch. Olu backs down Knucks, turns, fakes his left, then shoots with his right, and it's good. A few minutes later, Pápá Mouyre (ABJ) gets a pass from Armani Welch. Mouyre jab steps, then attacks to the basket. He then loses control of the ball, and the ball goes out of bounds. Bad turnover there. A few plays later, Jacob Nessal tries driving to the hoop himself. He sees Pápá Mouyre open for a shot. Mouyre passes to Armani Welch, who shoots the three. He drains it. Vangaziland cannot answer, as a three point shot from Julius Handsen (VAN) bounces off the front rim, and Pápá Mouyre secures the rebound. He hands it to Armani Welch. Welch sees Jacob Nessal ahead of everyone on the court. He throws it up to him, and Jacob Nessal catches it, leaps up, and slams it home. Vangaziland head coach Tim Tomasson then calls timeout. After the timeout, there were different players on the court for both teams. For Abaja, Malik al-Zalahwi (ABJ) comes into the game for Pápá Mouyre, and Jola Nicholson is in the game for Náná Mdamnbe. For Vangaziland, Mike Marks comes in for Christopher Ironwrought. After the inbound to Hectare Yulssen, he heads up court and throws it up to Jon Jennsen. He's up against Jola Nicholson. He turns. Here's the hook shot. And it goes. With 22 seconds to go in the 1st quarter, Malik al-Zalahwi gets the ball from Jacob Nessal. al-Zalahwi passes to Armani Welch, then runs inside. Welch quickly bounce passes to al-Zalahwi, and he rises up and dunks it home for 2. Twelve second left now. Hectare Yulssen waits until the last few seconds. He gets past Welch, shoots the floater. Off the iron. The buzzer sounds. Thats the end of the 1st and Vangaziland has a 19-18 lead. In the start of the second quarter, more subs were made. Here's who was on the floor for Abaja: PG: Alenau Eryenu, SG: Calvin Anelé, SF: Pápá Mouyre, PF: Vincent Osu, C: Joseph Olu. And for Vangaziland: PG: Sarah Overson, SG: Julius Handsen, SF: Mike Marks, PF: Jon Jennsen, C: Lonnie Knucks. Vangaziland started to go on a run, forcing a lot of turnovers in the second quarter for Abaja. Near the start of the second quarter, Calvin Anelé throws a bad pass intended to Vincent Osu. The ball sails out of bounds. Vangaziland ball. Sarah Overson (VAN) gets the ball to her teammate Julius Hansden (VAN) who is in the corner and Hansden gets past Calvin Anelé as he rushes through the baseline. He goes up for the layup, and it's rejected by Joseph Olu. The ball comes to Pápá Mouyre, but he cannot get to it before Mike Marks snatches it back. Marks passes it back out to Sarah Overson. Overson runs up to the elbow, stops, then shoots. It's good. Alenau Eryenu then runs up court, and he sees Calvin Anelé come out the corner. He passes to him, and Anelé catches it and shoots the 3. In and out. Won't go. Lonnie Knucks gets the rebound. He passes up to Sarah Overson, who is against Alenau Eryenu on the fastbreak. She finds Julius Hansden running up the court with her, and she delivers a bounce pass for an assist to Hansden. After that, Sarah Overson rips the ball from Alenau Eryenu. Another fastbreak for Vangaziland. It's a 2-on-1 with her and Jon Jennsen. She lobs it up to him and he flushes it down with two hands, Some more bad plays had came for Abaja, and finally Coach Yuhan Anekwe had seen enough. He switched Alenau Eryenu back with Armani Welch, Náná Mdamnbe is in for Vincent Osu, and Malik al-Zalahwi back in for Pápá Mouyre. Also Jacob Nessal comes back in for Calvin Anelé. For Vangaziland, Hectare Yulssen comes back in for Sarah Overson, and Christopher Ironwrought back in for Mike Marks. This was who was on the court for the last 3 minutes of the half. Off the inbound to Armani Welch, he sees Malik al-Zalahwi running in the paint. He zooms the pass in there, and al-Zalahwi gets a layup over Jon Jennsen. A couple minutes later, Hectare Yulssen passes to Julius Handsen who shoots a deep three. Off the backboard and in. Jacob Nessal responds with a three of his own with 19 seconds left after an assist pass from Armani Welch. After that, Welch gets a steal and goes coast to coast plus the foul. He converted the and-one. Vangaziland had lost their 12 point lead before the half.

At the end of the first half, the scores seemed a bit closer than expected. At halftime, the scores were: Abaja 42 - 44 Vangaziland. After a double-digit deficit halfway through the second quarter, Abaja bounced back to make it a 2 point game. In the start of the 3rd quarter, both teams had their starting 5 back. In the second half, however, was when Vangaziland really started to struggle on defense, giving up many points to the Abajans. After a missed layup from Christopher Ironwrought, Joseph Olu gets the rebound, and passes up to Jacob Nessal, who charges his way past two defenders. They manage to wrap him up to prevent the easy layup or dunk. Nessal misses the layup, but a foul is called. Two free throws for him now. Nessal makes the first, but he misses the second. Joseph Olu gets the offensive rebound. He goes up, and it's rejected by Lonnie Knucks! Vangaziland fails to get the rebound yet again, and this time it ends up in the hands of Pápá Mouyre. Mouyre charges to the rim for a monster slam. Afterwards, Hectare Yulssen's pass to Christopher Ironwrought gets deflected by Jacob Nessal. The ball almost goes out of bounds, but he saves it. The ball comes back to Christopher Ironwrought. He shoots the three. It's good. Armani Welch then runs all the way up court and easily slips past Hectare Yulssen and does a double-clutch layup over Jon Jennsen. An extra two points there. A few minutes later, Jacob Nessal gets a steal after a pass from Hectare Yulssen intended for Julius Handsen. Nessal is all by himself, and dunks it with two hands. Julius Handsen then misses a three. Joseph Olu with another rebound. He passes to Armani Welch. Abaja slows it down this time. Welch passes to Pápá Mouyre. Mouyre passes up to Náná Mdamnbe. Mdamnbe posts up, turns, dribbles to the hoop, and slams it in with one hand. Jon Jennsen then has his shot off target after good defense from Náná Mdamnbe. Mdamnbe passes up to Armani Welch. Welch bounce passes to Pápá Mouyre. He drives toward the baseline. He's against Christopher Ironwrought. He later gets past him, and Lonnie Knucks comes to help out. Mouyre does a reverse layup and in. Abaja gets on a huge run of their own. Vangaziland's head coach Tim Tomasson calls timeout. Again substitutions were made for both teams. Manny Battle (VAN) comes in for Jon Jennsen, and Sarah Overson is back in for Hectare Yulssen. Frank Hurcle (VAN) is in for Lonnie Knucks. For Abaja, Malik al-Zalahwi is in for Pápá Mouyre, Mbade Grette (ABJ) is in for Joseph Olu, and Calvin Anelé is back in the game for Jacob Nessal. With just a few minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, Abaja slowed down the scoring pace. Malik al-Zalahwi hits a mid-range jumpshot after an assist from Calvin Anelé. On the other end, Calvin Anelé challenged Julius Handsen and got a rejection on him, his first block of the game. The ball went out of bounds and it was still Vangaziland's ball. Handsen argued with the ref for a moment, because he thought that Anelé hit him on the arm. On the inbound, Sarah Overson gets the ball, and she goes inside, and delivers a behind-the-back pass to Manny Battle. Battle puts up the shot and scores. Those are his first two points of the game. Now Armani Welch was against Sarah Overson. Overson tries reaching for the ball. She cannot get it. Welch passes to Calvin Anelé. Anelé takes one dribble forward, snatchback, stepback, the fade away shot, rattles in. Thirteen seconds left in the 3rd, and Abaja has possession again. They hold it. Armani Welch takes the last shot. It's a 2 pointer. The shot is too strong as it bounces off the backboard then off the front rim. At the end of the third, Abaja builds a 9 point lead. Many people at the game could believe their eyes, that Abaja was actually leading against the #4 ranked team in IBC. In the start of the 4th quarter, Both teams again had their same starting 5 on the court. The quarter began with Pápá Mouyre driving furiously to the rim and slamming it with two hands over the tower Lonnie Knucks. Vangaziland responds with a three pointer from Julius Handsen. A few plays later, Abaja gets back to back dunks from Jacob Nessal and Joseph Olu. Jacob Nessal then blocks a shot from Julius Handsen, after he had attempted a floater in traffic. Nessal got the rebound, and passed up to Armani Welch. Welch gets a step past Hectare Yulssen on the fast break. He gets the layup with contact. No foul called, but still 2 points for the Lions. The lead continued to grow and grow, until the lead reached 17. With just 3 and a half minutes left in the game, Yuhan Anekwe decided to take out his starters and put in the bench players so that his starters could rest. Tim Tomasson made a lot of substitutions as well. Here's who was on the court for Abaja: PG: Alenau Eryenu, SG: Damian Marakwo, SF: Mathew Ojeije, PF: Jola Nicholson, C: Mbade Grette. And for Vangaziland: PG: Sarah Overson, SG: Fred Sokol, SF: Mike Marks, PF: Manny Battle, C: Frank Hurcle. A whole group of new guys on the court. A whole court filled with bench players. Vangaziland made a small run, after a Fred Sokol three pointer and Frank Hurcle scoring a hook shot, but Abaja responded with Jola Nicholson stealing the ball away from Manny Battle, and handing it to Alenau Eryenu. Eryenu throws it up to Damian Marakwo. Marakwo bounce passes to Mathew Ojeije. Ojeije misses the layup, but puts the ball back in the basket after an offensive rebound. Soon after, Sarah Overson passes to Manny Battle for the slam dunk, giving Overson her 4th assist of the night. With just 42 seconds left in the game, Abaja's lead was trimmed to 11. Jola Nicholson pushes the lead to 13 after a layup off the glass. Vangaziland takes their last shot of the game, this one from Fred Sokol. He hits the deep mid range shot in front of Damian Marakwo. With 20 seconds left, Abaja runs down the clock until the final buzzer sounds. Vannish fans were in shock, while Abajans were jumping with joy. Abaja will be the first team in Group G to defeat the Royals, and tomorrow, they will have a rematch against unranked LOUDER AND BIGGER. The fans feel more confident about defeating these guys in a rematch. Social Media has been buzzing since last night after the game, saying Abaja could top the group if they keep this going, but there is still a lot of time left to decide that

NEXT UP

July 22, 2016

LOUDER AND BIGGER vs ABAJA

COMMENTS • 30,289
Top Comments • New Comments

King Irvin - July 20, 11:38 PM
Loses to 2 unranked teams
Wins against 2 top 10 ranked teams
This team is weird man...
Reply • Like (4624) • Dislike (78)

Michael Myers - July 20, 11:29 PM
I owe my friend $50 now ::P
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Adam Hy - July 21, 8:01 AM
had to rub my eyes a few times after looking at the score.
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by **Saint Kanye** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:51 pm

THE KARDASHIA KIBITZER

IBC 21: SURGE LOSE COACH BREWSTER, GAME

by Ray Wright

Surge Schedule - Group F

Matchday 1: L 78-79 vs. Vettrera (UR*)
Matchday 2: W 66-64 vs. Banija (36)
Matchday 3: W 83-82 vs. Banguela (10)
Matchday 4: W 80-71 vs. Jarwel (UR)
Matchday 5: L 72-83 vs. Amouraland (UR)
Friendly: White vs. Qasden (UR)
Matchday 6: Black vs. Vettrera
Matchday 7: White vs. Banija
Matchday 8: Purple vs. Banguela
Matchday 9: White vs. Jarwel
Matchday 10: Purple vs. Amouraland
Friendly: Purple vs. Vangaziland (4)

* Unranked.

All games televised live through SKYNET
(Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12
and our new dedicated website, ibc-tv.stk.

METROPOLON - It was truly a bad day for the St. Kanye Surge national basketball team as their head coach Paulie Brewster collapsed in the team dugout at halftime of their 21st International Basketball Championships match with unheralded Amouraland. The Surge players said that the 51-year-old coach was giving yet another of his loud and colorful speeches after their opponents were able to jump ahead of them after twenty minutes of play, 38-34, then clutched his chest. Surge reserve center Lester Smith was able to pick Brewster up before he hit the ground, while the team staff called for an ambulance.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Bernard Foley took the wheel for the Kanyeans, but he was unable to lead his players all by himself. The Surge appeared to have taken a big hit in their morale, as Amouraland made scoring runs in the second half and got away with the W, 83-72. St. Kanye drops to 3-2, with a zero quotient (as many points scored as those given up). Team co-captains James Blackwell and Darren Overton led the Surge, who are wearing their black alternates, with eleven points each.

Coach Brewster is now in stable condition, but doctors told the team that he would need to rest for a few days. This means that he will not be able to make the trip to Quebec for the Surge's friendly with the Qasden Vans. Some members of the team staff will be accompanying him at the hospital, while Assistant Coach Foley will be the team's leader for the Qasden game, and possibly all of the remaining group stage games. Foley said, "This Drawkland trip has not been the best for us, the team. Our games have been hit-and-miss, and we lost our head coach. Well, we just have to stay brave despite all the bad things being thrown at us right now. We shall start with the friendly match. Qasden's making noise right now, but we're still the world's #3 team and the defending champs. I'm hoping for a good game here, and beyond, and of course for Coach Brewster to get well soon." 2,665 Kanyeans bought tickets to this game at The Ring arena.

Scores:

AMOURALAND 83 - Individual scores not available.

ST. KANYE 72 - Blackwell 11, Overton 11, Trichet 10, Forrest 7, Stevens 7, Smith 6, Gatson 5, Philips 5, Warner 4, Larsson 2, Morrigan 2, Page 2.

Quarters: 19-20, 38-34, 67-54, 83-72.

by **Drawkland** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:00 pm

GROUP STAGE FRIENDLY CUTOFF!

A short song from Wii Sports Resort for your short friendly match day.
Only 6 people have scheduled friendlies for today. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After today, the SECOND leg of the group stage (same as the first but with reversed home/away designations) will commence. After that it's another day of friendlies and then the tournament.

@ Corps Central Court, Drawk City, DRK
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 89–66 Drawkland

@ Cannabiscorp Centre, California City, RKQ
Saint Kanye 70–71 Qasden

@ Mile One Centre, St.John's, RKQ
Abanhfleft 76–77 Vangaziland

by **Qasden** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:58 pm

(OOC: sorry for not posting the quick report on STKvQAD. Family came with a busy day X3)

Qasden
Athletic News

IBC21 Report- 1st Friendly

Welp, the Vans enjoyed their day trip to Cal city, especially after tonight's friendly.

As we ended the first half of the group stage with a big win over Levivania, Qasden came into this game using it to practice for Ottawa. However, we did not expect the Vans to play the game as competitive as we thought. In the end, the Qasden Vans shocked the St. Kanye Surge, 71 to 70, in their first ever clash. The one-point victory over the defending champions most likely chilled the spines of our group-mates, especially our next opponents. Andrew Markins punched in a clean 18 points, while Ulemar and Hocks also performed decently.

Exiting the locker rooms, Coach Starks, for once, attended the press conference without being bribed or pressured into it. "I don't know how we did it, we just did. We, as the Qasden National Basketball Team, would like to express our condolences to St. Kanye and pray for Coach Brewster's full recovery. Even though we defeated AC Foley's first head-coach game, we are more than positive that the Surge will still perform well in the second half of the GS. Anyways, with what we showed tonight, however, we probably rattled some key teams in our group. Key teams such as Electrum, West Phoencia, and RK Quebec. When we hit the floors in Ottawa, we'll be back, stronger than before."

After tonight's match, the Surge will face Vettrera, seeking vengeance after the MD1 upset. As for the Vans, Team Qasden will be rematching the Electrumites, this time in Ottawa and with the white jerseys. Why is a game vs the ninth best team in the multiverse crucial, you say? With a second Qad victory, the Vans will have a much better chance at reaching the knockouts via head-to-head record. With both teams' 3-2 records on the ropes, only one will emerge victorious.

Before we leave just yet, QADAN, as well as the rest of the Principality, will pray for St. Kanye's Coach Brewster's full recovery. And from now until the potential elimination of both teams in IBC21, Qad spirits will bleed blue,red, purple and lime.

Will Qasden defeat Electrum again for a 4-2 record? Can the Electrumites get their ultimate revenge on their feline adversaries? Stay alert for the #QADvETM quick report, as well as the Day 6 recap report, straight from the city of Ottawa.

by **Saint Kanye** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:18 pm

THE KARDASHIA KIBITZER

IBC 21: BREWSTER-LESS WOES CONTINUE FOR SURGE AS THEY DROP FRIENDLY VS. QADS

by Ray Wright

Surge Schedule - Group F

Matchday 1: L 78-79 vs. Vettrera (UR*)
Matchday 2: W 66-64 vs. Banija (36)
Matchday 3: W 83-82 vs. Banguela (10)
Matchday 4: W 80-71 vs. Jarwel (UR)
Matchday 5: L 72-83 vs. Amouraland (UR)
Friendly: L 70-71 vs. Qasden (UR)
Matchday 6: Black vs. Vettrera
Matchday 7: White vs. Banija
Matchday 8: Purple vs. Banguela
Matchday 9: White vs. Jarwel
Matchday 10: Purple vs. Amouraland
Friendly: Purple vs. Vangaziland (4)

* Unranked.

All games televised live through SKYNET
(Saint KanYe NETwork) Sports Channel 12
and our new dedicated website, ibc-tv.stk.

CALIFORNIA CITY - The St. Kanye Surge fall to an unranked team once again, this time 70-71 against the Qasden Vans in their friendly game held during the first break of the 21st International Basketball Championships group stages. The Kanyeans seem to still be affected by the loss of their head coach Paulie Brewster, who's in a hospital back at Drawkland after collapsing at halftime of their game yesterday against Amouraland, which they also lost 72-83. "It's hard for us now. We are not playing like defending champs and a world-class hoops team should. I admit, this campaign has been angering us all", said Surge co-captain Darren Overton, who led his team with a double-double of 16 points and ten rebounds, plus an assist, a steal and two blocks.

The Surge, dressed in their home whites despite being the away team, led early on, relying on their starting five to take a 25-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. They even led by twelve, 32-20 with 7:36 left in the second, but the Vans caught up quickly and managed to tie it at 38 with 2:17 remaining before falling behind again, 44-42 at halftime. The third quarter was all Qasden, though. Andrew Markins and Justen Hocks combined for all but four of their twenty points this quarter to put the Kanyeans behind, 56-62. In the middle of the fourth, the score was 60-71 in favor of the Vans when, Marc Stevens, the Surge's "sixth man" who's known for fourth quarter comebacks in the pros, helped the Kanyeans hold the Qads scoreless for the rest of the game, but were still unable to defeat them. Adrian Page had the chance to give his team the win, but the right arm he bruised against Jarwel two days ago hurt badly as he stretched his arm for the layup, which bounced out. Page fell to his knees, clutching his arm and apologizing to his teammates and Assistant Coach Bernard Foley, who took over for Brewster today. Among the crowd at Cannabiscorp Centre in Quebec, only 1,325 were Kanyeans.

Though the loss didn't make a dent in the Surge's official standings, the odds of them being the IBC 21 champs dropped from 7:1 at the start of the tournament to 49:1 now, according to gambling website UBetcha.stk. Meanwhile, Qasden's odds rose from 199:1 to 124:1.

"Tomorrow it's Vettrera again. They beat us once, so we shall work harder if we don't want them to beat us again", said assistant coach Foley. "8-2 is not impossible, although neither is 3-7. Tomorrow is a brand new chapter in our journey, and so we shall need all the help, support and luck we can get."

Scores:

QASDEN 71 - Markins 18, Hocks 14, Ulemar 13, Okasayo 8, Aksen 6, Rybrett 3, Trepel 3, Boxton 2, Pobbs 2, Porter 2, Frosts 0, Tazel 0.

ST. KANYE 70 - Overton 15, Blackwell 11, Stevens 9, Trichet 7, Forrest 5, Philips 5, Morrigan 4, Page 4, Larsson 3, Warner 3, Gatson 2, Smith 2.

Quarters: 18-25, 42-44, 62-56, 71-70.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 8:11 am

Uranium City, Fleftic Antarctica
October 18, 2018

“Hey, you! Yeah, you! Yeezie! Up front! Look at us! Hey! Look at us when we’re talking to you!”

Jazz Higgs did his best to ignore the catcalls coming from the people whom he had once thought were friends. Well, they were not really his friends, more like his fans from his days of playing at Nickerson Public. But still, Jazz felt a sense of betrayal from all this. The people who had once called themselves his fans were now jeering him, and all because of a nation which he knew little about except that his mother had come from it.

Jazz’s mother, Kristen, was from Saint Kanye, and the Saint Kanye Surge had just eliminated the Abanhfleft Rebolusyonaryos from the 20th International Basketball Championships under what Fleftic fans considered very dubious circumstances. There was talk of dubious fouls, uncalled fouls by Kanyean players on the Fleftics, and general unsportsmanlike conduct between players. To an impartial observer, there wasn’t much more physicality and uncalled fouls in the games between the Fleftics and the Kanyeans than was usually observed even in IBC-level games. But for the Fleftic basketball fans, who had always suffered from a persecution complex, they saw every uncalled foul and every slight infraction against their team as yet another sign that the world, the multiverse, was conspiring to keep their nation from winning a major international trophy. It was such a conspiratorial mindset that even the regular fans thought that the diehard fans were crazy for thinking that. It was just very unfortunate that many Fleftic basketball fans were diehard fans.

“Hey, Yeezie! Face us when we’re talking to you!” One of the people who was making all the catcalls at Jazz threw a rock at the seven-foot-five center, but even though Jazz made such a huge and inviting target the rock didn’t find its mark. Jazz turned to face the jeering fans, but he was held back by one of his real friends, Kirk Tripp, who also played basketball for Nickerson Public as a point guard. “They’re not worth it, Jazz,” he told the taller player. Jazz just shook his head and walked on.

“Yeah, that’s right, you Yeezie coward,” the guy who had thrown the rock at Jazz continued. “Go run back to your Yeezie mama and cry your eyes out before you go fuck her and then fuck yourself!”

This time Jazz crossed the street before Kirk could hold him back. “What the fuck did you just say?” he called out.

“You heard what I said, Yeezie,” the guy shouted back. “You are a motherfucker! Literally! You and your mama are gonna make inbred Yeezie babies!”

Jazz suddenly punched the trash-talker in the mouth. His fellows saw what happened and made to attack Jazz, but they had forgotten that the other half of Jazz’s lineage was from Drawkland, and Drawkians were much stronger as well as much bigger than regular humans, and none of the catcallers ever stood a chance.

“Jazz! No!” Kirk had finally made it across the street but wisely kept his distance from Jazz, who was still visibly seething with anger.

“You can insult me all you want, assholes,” Jazz said to the battered trash-talkers who were now lying on the snowy pavement, “but you never, ever bring my mama into this! If this is what being a fan of the Rebolusyonaryos is, then I’m ashamed to call myself a fan of Abanhfleft!”

Sarnia, Royal Kingdom of Quebec
The present day

After that incident with the trash-talking Yeezie-hating “fans”, Jazz had reconsidered his position with regards to him being ashamed of being a fan of Abanhfleft. He wasn’t ashamed to be a fan of Abanhfleft and the Rebolusyonaryos; what he was ashamed of was that the people who had insulted him and his mother were also calling themselves “fans” when they obviously had no right to do so. He came to realize this when Abdul Halim bin Osman approached him with an offer to represent the Rebolusyonaryos in IBC 21. Jazz didn’t hesitate to accept the offer, even though he could have decided to wait for either the Saint Kanye Surge or the Drawkland Drawk Corps of Ballers to approach him with an offer to represent them. Jazz had nothing against Abanhfleft; it was the land that had raised him and made him what he was. And what were the opinions of a few deluded “fans” who didn’t matter at all in the big picture? The chance came to represent the country he had known all his life in the sport that he loved and played best, and Jazz Higgs took it.

Jazz could only remember the last game against the Free Swiss States as a blur. Abanhfleft had won that game 90-67, a 23-point blowout in a tournament in which some of the other favorites were barely winning their own games by the skin of their teeth. Jazz had contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds in this game, his third international double-double. His main role for the Rebolusyonaryos was to collect as many rebounds as possible, whether it was offensive or defensive. He was free to shoot when he wanted, but while he had a good shooting arm and could score from beyond the three-point line, his role as the rebounder most often kept him from throwing up balls whenever he wanted.

And then came the game against Kaboomlandia.

No one knew what had happened in that game. All they know is that the Fleftics had absolutely murdered the Kaboomlandians, at least on the parquet floor. The final score was 121-76, a 45-point victory. Leo Baxter was the player of the game with 40 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Newt Isaacs and Hayden Dorola were tied in second place with 20 points each. Jazz, much to his own surprise, found himself the third-highest scorer in the team with 12 points, and yet another 10 rebounds gave him his fourth double-double in the IBC.

Jazz had seen the Fleftic fans who had come to Quebec to watch the tournament, as well as the immigrant and working Fleftics who already lived there, holding up signs supporting their own favorite players. The vast majority had been for Leo and Hayden. There were fan signs for all the players of the national team, but Leo and Hayden’s were the most prominent. But Jazz had also noticed that more and more fans were holding up signs for him, Jazz Higgs of Uranium City. They were chanting his name as loudly as they chanted “Baxter! Baxter!” and “Hayden! Hayden!”

So what if a few “fans” hated him because of his parentage? He had more than proven that he was up and willing to play for the blue, orange, and green.

Jazz Higgs was half-Drawkland and half-Saint Kanye. But he was also wholly Abanhfleft.

International Basketball Championships 21 (IC Thread)

Matchday 4 in Quebec

Matchday 5 in Quebec

Group Stage Friendlies

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