West 4th kicked off the NYC summer season last weekend with a dandy. Ian Harris photo.

The temperature was not the only thing sizzling last Sunday afternoon in lower Manhattan. Jump and Unruly Heir provided the real heat at The Cage in a contest that featured shooters scorching the nets, a Hulk-like big man and crazy last second action with several lead changes.

Heir got ahead by as many as 14 behind the scintillating duo of Akiem and Nico. Akiem played like a man possessed in the first half. The graceful star showed off his full arsenal, getting to the rack with ease and also displaying a nice midrange game that would’ve made even Rip Hamilton a little envious. He finished with 21, 14 coming in the first half.

Nico got off to a slow start, connecting on just one of his first six attempts. But the smooth shooting ivy-league southpaw, whose game is similar to Acie Law’s, found the range in the second half, finishing with 18 points and several key pick-pockets on the defensive end.

It looked like Heir had this game won when it led 53-39 mid-way through the third. But Jump was just getting going. The man they call Moves earned his nickname in the second half, using his crazy yo-yo to leave defenders in the dust and get to the hole at will. Jump also started to give Kennedy, the 6th Avenue version of Tractor Traylor, some more touches and he went to work on Heir defenders.

It also helped that Heir couldn’t buy a basket.

Kennedy put in a lay-up with 30 seconds left to give Jump a one point lead. But Heir had a quick answer. Akiem used a quick in-and-out on the right side, took the harm for the foul, adjusting in mid-air to put Heir back up one. He calmly sank the free-throw and Unruly Heir had a two point lead.

With 15 seconds left, Moves got what he wanted, an iso on the left side. It was him against a helpless Heir defender. The quick guard blew past his man, and spun home a tough-lay up with his right hand on three help defenders to tie the game. This battle wasn’t meant to be decided in 40 minutes.

Jump seemed to be on a mission and took all the momentum into overtime. Kennedy scored six big points in the extra session and Nico rimmed out a couple of shots from a different area code. When it was all said and done, Jump completed the comeback and escaped with a five-point win.

“I just told them at halftime we gotta get this victory,” Jump coach Socks said. “We knew we’d have to shut down Nico so we just made some defensive adjustments and got the victory.”

By Trevor Kapp