In a match-up of two undefeated teams, Morgan Stanley slipped past Pomegranate 67-61 on Dec. 14 during the San Diego Hoops’ sixth week of play. Both teams went into the contest with undefeated 5-0 records.

Slated to be the game of the year, the teams did not disappoint. The action was non-stop from the get-go, with Morgan Stanley on the board within the first 20 seconds of the game.

Pomegranate led much of the first half, and led at halftime 27-24. Their largest lead in the first half was 5 points, and most of the game was spent with the two teams within 3 points of each other.

The difference in the second half was the dominance of Morgan Stanley’s Danny Player, who scored 27 points in the second half, moving him into one of the top scorer slots for the week.

Morgan Stanley captain/coach Paul Demke added 26 points of his own, moving him into the high scorer ranks and helping to seal their win. Pomegranate’s Jason Farr led all scorers for the night with 30 points.

“What a great early-season game,” Demke said. “I was proud of my team, as even though we were down most of the game, we didn’t give up. Danny Player really stepped up for us, especially in the second half. He had some huge buckets down the stretch. And Vinny Adame, Ray Robinson and Brad Clark really worked hard throughout the whole game.”

Hamburger Mary’s evened its record to 3-3 with a 56-42 win over The Loft in the first game of the evening. The Loft fell to 2-4 overall.

The first half saw a see-saw battle of offense and defense, with the main difference being that Hamburger Mary’s captain/coach Mike Anderson scored 21 points during the first half. The Loft’s Chad Hermandorfer is the tallest player in the league but his team couldn’t take advantage of his height as Hamburger Mary’s held a 33-26 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the battle continued right down to the wire. Hamburger Mary’s large lead was slowly whittled down, but in the end, the team managed to maintain its lead for the victory.

Anderson finished with 29 points, making him the second highest scorer of the night. “We’re starting to play more fluent and getting to know each other,” Anderson said. “If we can consistently play that way, we will be in good standing at the end of the season.”

In the second game of the night, AAA Mortgage cruised to an easy 80-51 win over Pecs.

Although the score did not indicate the competitiveness of the game, Pecs proved the team has the ability to play aggressive defense and offense when their entire team is available. Dan Newbold was on fire, scoring 12 points in the first half for Pecs.

AAA Mortgage led just 34-25 at halftime – still anybody’s game. The second half saw AAA’s Larry Granville and Chris Battistuz taking over, each with 25 and 18 points respectively, bringing them into the night’s top 10 scorers.

AAA Mortgage’s defense was able to shut down Newbold, who could only muster another 6 points in the second half, scoring 18 in all.

Despite the loss and his team’s 0-6 record, Pecs captain/coach David Valenzuela remains optimistic.

“We came out with a good game plan,” he said. “Everybody played hard but just came up a little short at the end. Overall it was one of our better games as a team. We need to work on boxing out on the defensive boards and just keep playing. As for the team agenda, our goal is to get our first win under our belt and work on getting ready for the playoffs.”

In the final game of the night, Colorworks Painting barely managed to walk away with a 55-51 win over 2200 Club. Even though Colorworks had the talent to run away with this game, the 2200 Club played effective and impressive defense.

The first half saw heated action, with lots of full-court drives that did not result in accurate shots. Colorworks led 22-18 at the half but the pace picked up significantly in the second half of the game.

Both teams showed teamwork, both offensively and defensively. The primary difference in the game may have been Colorworks’ numbers and 2200 Club’s lack of substitutes. 2200 Club had all five of their required players on the floor the entire game.

The game still came down to the final few seconds, but Colorworks held on to their early lead and thwarted a valiant effort by 2200 Club. Brandon Patchett led Colorworks with 19 points, while Sergio Villegas led 2200 Club with 18.

Colorworks captain/coach Jose Cruz is hopeful his team can beat the top teams in the league as the players get more comfortable playing together.

“After a rough start [1-2], the Colorworks Painting team holds a 3-3 record. We consider ourselves among the top three teams in the league,” Cruz said. “We are confident that when everything is clicking, we can beat any team in the league. We have a couple of months to pull it all together, and we will. All of our players are making important contributions to our efforts.”

Cruz praised Patchett’s offensive efforts as well as Tom Nagashima’s recent improved play.

“These two accounted for 35 of our 55 points Wednesday night. My observation is [that] the best is yet to come. Every one of our players owns a level of play that has not yet been fully exposed,” Cruz said.

San Diego Hoops will host the Hillcrest Classic Basketball Tournament at the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center over the Martin Luther King Weekend, Jan. 14-15. San Diego will play host to 12 teams from around the country, including teams from Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, New York and Dallas.

San Diego Hoops is seeking volunteers to run the clock, do the scorebooks and to help with registration at both the welcome party and at the gym. Contact Valenzuela at (619) 291-3010 or e-mail sdiego20002@cox.net for details.