In week seven of the 2003-04 San Diego Hoops basketball season, the teams have started to differentiate themselves, with Fusion breaking out to take second place and The Loft picking up their second win of the season to move themselves out of the four-way tie for last place that existed last week.

In the first game of the night, Morgan Stanley dominated Pecs on the court, outscoring them, 38-22, in the first half. They stepped up the defense another notch in the second half of the game, holding Pecs to just 10 points to win the game, 70-32.

“Our post players did a tremendous job of getting the ball and getting it out to the guards and we had a lot of uncontested layups,” said Morgan Stanley coach Paul Demke. “The key to the game for us tonight was just our team defense. We held them to 22 in the first half and only 10 points in the second half. It’s a testimony to how we really started to step up defensively, not only in our half court set, but just playing tough defense all around.”

Demke led his team in scoring, with 27 points, while the strong, Morgan Stanley defense held one of Pecs strongest players, Greg Torrance, to just three points for the entire game. Leading Pecs in scoring was the team’s coach, John Gore, with eight points, followed by Chris Battistuz, with seven.

Game two was the must-see game of the week, with Moby Dick’s facing Fusion. The two teams were tied for second place in the league going into the night and the game lived up to expectations. The two teams were running neck and neck in the first half, with Moby Dick’s capitalizing on some substitution opportunities and advantages to pick up a slight lead going into the half.

“Going into the half we had a four-point lead,” said Moby Dick’s coach David Valenzuela. “The game was very tight. It was a good clean game. When we did certain substitutions we had kind of an advantage on them.”

Moby Dick’s expanded on the lead going into the second half, and with six minutes left in the game they had secured a 12-point lead. However, Fusion did not let down.

“By the score you couldn’t really tell the drama that happened. A couple people came up to me and said they left when there were like six minutes left and we were down 12 and then we came back. That’s basically what our team is built on. We just hustle and we’ve got a lot of guys who work hard.”

With less than a minute left in the game, Fusion tied things up at 46 points. Moby Dick’s decided to hold onto the ball and run the clock down, hoping to make a last minute shot, but Robert Tew managed to steal the ball and call a timeout. With time about to expire, Fusion inbounded the ball to Tew, who was fouled driving in for a lay-up and sank one of his free throws to give Fusion a one-point lead and to win the game, 47-46, as time expired.

“I just made some mental mistakes substituting,” Valenzuela said following the game. “It happened because I am being a player/coach. When you’re in that position you don’t realize what you’re doing and then next thing you know it’s getting out of hand and you’re calling your timeouts.”

The win bumps Fusion up into second place, one game ahead of Moby Dick’s, and places Moby Dick’s in a tie for third place with Kickers.

“It feels good, it really does,” Leung said, reflecting on the game. “I give credit to Moby Dick’s. They really played tough and they had us on our heels for a long time, but that’s what’s so great about our team; we just keep fighting.”

In other week seven action, The Loft beat Brians’/Hummingbird, 47-30, to improve their record to 2-4 and move into fourth place in the league. Kickers defeated Powerhouse Gym in a game that came down to the wire, with a missed lay-up in the final seconds of the game costing Powerhouse the win in a 47-46 game.

The San Diego Hoops basketball league will be taking a two-week break for the holiday season, but will return to the Golden Hill Recreation Center on Wednesday January 7. Games get started at 6:00 p.m. and continue through until 10:00 p.m. For more information about the Hoops Basketball League visit the gaylesbiantimes.com and click on this story for a link to their website.