Morgan Stanley continued to dominate the San Diego Hoops basketball league with a solid 57-45 win over Hamburger Mary’s on Jan. 18.

Morgan Stanley bolted out the gate and had scored twice within the first two minutes, pushing their lead to 9 points before Hamburger Mary’s finally scored a basket. They kept their lead throughout the entire game by shutting down Hamburger Mary’s big scorer, Mike Anderson.

A game that could have been a difficult win for Morgan Stanley turned out to be less spectacular. Hamburger Mary’s was plagued by missed passes and inaccurate shooting. Coupled with strong defense and lightning-fast attacks by Morgan Stanley, Hamburger Mary’s just couldn’t bring it together.

Hamburger Mary’s did capitalize on a couple of good scoring runs, but Morgan Stanley was quickly able to shut them down. Even without a break-away performance, Hamburger Mary’s managed to keep Morgan Stanley’s lead to 34-19 at the half.

Morgan Stanley’s Danny Player scored 19 points in the first half to lead all scorers for the night with 38 points. Mike Anderson led Hamburger Mary’s with 15 points.

“Offensively, Danny Player carried us this week. He had an MVP-like performance for us,” captain/coach Paul Demke said. “Defensively, we set the tone early, as it was one of our better defensive games. This was a nice win against a very good Hamburger Mary’s team.”

Morgan Stanley remains undefeated with a 9-0 record, while Hamburger Mary’s slips to 5-4.

Despite early problems, Pomegranate primarily dominated The Loft in a 69-37 win during the second game of the evening.

The Loft hit the board first and was up by 5 points before Pomegranate even scored, managing to stay in the lead for most of the first half before Pomegranate finally caught up.

Pomegranate missed their first two shots and made a couple of missed passes, but were able to turn it around and get into the groove, finally matching The Loft and then passing them eight minutes into the first half. Pomegranate was making up for lost momentum, stepping up their game with an aggressive offense and an even more aggressive defense. Pomegranate led at halftime 33-17.

In the second half, The Loft seemed to lose steam and struggled to make their plays. Turnovers increased and successful rebounds decreased. Pomegranate had their full team, and was able to throw some fresh legs into the mix throughout the game.

Leo Valenzuela led Pomegranate with 21 points, and Chad Hermandorfer led The Loft with 23 points. Pomegranate improves to 7-2, while The Loft slides to 4-5.

In the lowest-scoring game of the night, AAA Mortgage beat the 2200 Club 50-37. Although AAA had the highest scorer of the season in Larry Granville, he was not scoring at his usual levels. 2200 Club was playing an exceptionally good defensive game, but trailed considerably at the half, 28-10.

Even with strong defensive play, 2200 Club was unable to produce an effective offense. They were unable to complete many passes; had they been able to connect more with their shots, it could have been a much closer game.

Bryan Leigh led AAA with 14 points, while Jeff Praught also scored 14 for 2200 Club.

AAA remains in third place for the season with a 6-3 record, while 2200 Club stands in second-to-last place at 1-8.

Pecs failed to secure their first win of the season in a 65-55 loss to Colorworks Painting during the last game.

Colorworks was at a disadvantage with only four players available, but Pecs had their full team on hand. Pecs was unable to capitalize on Colorworks’ lack of players, however.

Brandon Patchett of Colorworks shot well to help his team lead 33-23 at halftime. Patchett finished the game with 32 points.

In the second half, Pecs eventually caught up and tied Colorworks 53-53 with three minutes left.

Colorworks made a decisive 9-2 run at the end and managed to put up an additional 12 points. David Valenzuela led Pecs with 19 points.

“The Colorworks Painting team delivered like never before. There were just four of us, and to win this particular game would call for an all-out effort on everyone’s part,” said Colorworks captain/coach Jose Cruz. “Well, the guys delivered when they had to. We never stopped running.”

Cruz also lauded the play of Patchett and Rich Stevenson.

“We knew we would have to pick up the loose balls and the rebounds, and not waste shots or create turnovers,” Cruz said. “The team delivered on all counts, and was never discouraged, even after we lost the lead in the early part of the second half.”

Colorworks is tied for fifth place with a 4-5 record. Pecs remains winless at 0-9.