The Edsel Ford Thunderbirds and the Wyandotte Bears met in a downriver league tilt that saw the Thunderbirds win 51-34. The Bears didn’t get off to the start they were looking for in the first as they found themselves down seven points midway through the first. Heading into the second the Bears made it a two point game heading into the second, and that would be the last time it was the single digit game at the end of a quarter.
The second quarter was much the same as the Thunderbirds built a double digit lead over Wyandotte that they tried to pull back into range, but an injury to Ethan Saenz with three minutes left in the second halted that. When Saenz went down things got heated between the two teams as both teams started to chirp back and forth leading to a technical foul on Wyandotte big man Richard Clark.
After the half it was more of the same for the Thunderbirds as they built on their lead. The Bears tried to hold off water from a sinking ship, but it was a tough climb back for a team that was missing shots left and right. Saenz came back to start the second half but the ankle injury was too much and he had to be lifted with four minutes left in the third.
Down 12 Wyandotte coach Ron Adkins was given a technical foul near the start of the fourth for arguing with the referees. The final four minutes and change of the game saw the Thunderbirds essentially dribble out the clock which caused the Bears to foul each possession to send the Thunderbirds to the line five times.
Player of the Game
Our player of the game goes to Hamza Elbaneh who had 21 points in the winning effort for the Thunderbirds.