The legendary Bob McCullough. Photo: Kyle Henry

Last night at Nike Pro City (Hunter College, 68th St./Lexington) was very memorable. In addition to the games, Rucker legend (and former Rucker Pro League Director) Bob McCullough, the father of Marvin and Jerry, received a lifetime achievement award for his dedication to hoops and kids in the city. Several of his friends, including other old-timers, and family were in attendance for the event. Ball Gurl, who has been M.I.A. in the stands so far this season, also popped up. Junie “Mr. Excitement” Saunders suited up for some action as well as Jerry “The General” McCullough.

Now for the games. Dyckman battled defending champs Nike 1 to an instant classic, with Dyckman pulling out a 113-112 squeaker. Both played hard throughout the first half. Every time Nike seemed ready to pull away, Andre “Dre 3000” Barrett made a play to keep Dyckman in it. Dyckman brought out New Jersey native and Indiana Pacer Troy Murphy. Murphy had a tough run, during one sequence Nike’s Garnett Thompson locked Murphy up and rejected his shot. Things got so bad for Murphy that one heckler in the stands nicknamed him Troy “Un-Impressive” Murphy.

Andre “Dre 3000″ Barrett at Nike Pro City. Photo: Kyle Henry

The match up to watch was between former Big East guards Barrett and Eugene “Built Ford Tough” Lawrence. At one point during the game when the pair went at it, the crowd went bananas prompting MC Brawley to say, “I like this match up right here y’all.” Down the stretch there were four ties and lead changes. Lawrence scored six of Nike’s last nine points, but was bested by Barrett, who sunk two freebies on a controversial foul call with .7 seconds left to give Dyckman the win.

Barrett scored a game-high 38, to go with six boards and seven assists. Former St. Peter’s guard Nate Brown dropped 15 for Dyckman. Nike 1 was led by Mr. Excitement’s 28 and seven rebounds. Lawrence added 25 for Nike in the loss.

Also at Pro City, X-Men crushed the Uptowners 126-107. The contest was never close as the X-Men led by as many as 29 points throughout. Golden State Warrior Al Harrington dressed for X-Men. A heckler in the stands let him have it every time he touched the rock, “Yo Al you soft.” Harrington did not concur and proceeded to score a game-high 32. Mike “The Icon” Campbell racked up a nice stat line finishing with 16, 11 boards and seven dimes. The best part of that line was zero turnovers. Rutgers forward JR Inman and Tim “Headache” Gittens finished with 19 a piece. Inman also added 11 boards. Inman has been playing some good ball, he is going to kill for Rutgers next season.

Eugene “Built Ford Tough” Lawrence at Pro City. Photo: Kyle Henry

While Barrett and Lawrence were battling, Kareem “Big Game” Reid and God Shammgod were waging war at the Tri-State Classic (145th and Lenox) in Harlem. Bingo’s All-Stars’ Reid and 129 Raw’s Shammgod was a match-up fans everywhere could dream of. Reid came out ready, going at Sham with two consecutive three-pointers and a strong drive to the cup that got the crowd up. Shammgod came back with the same cross into a spin move for two consecutive buckets and on his third try he couldn’t convert a drive, giving Reid the advantage. They went back and forth all night with Reid winning the personal scoring battle 35-33 and the game, Bingo’s 121-111. Ron Artest scored 27 for Bingo’s, while Tony “Nightrider” Randolph had 25 in a losing effort for 129 Raw.

In the other game D’s Crew dropped a 108-100 decision to Ed’s All-Stars. Ed’s proved too strong, experienced and deep for the younger D’s Crew cruising to the easy win. Quinton “T2” Hosely caught four alley-oops from Kenny Satterfield, boarded like a beast creating easy second chance lay-ups and led all scorers with 36 points. Keydren “Kiki” Clark had 20 at half and didn’t play in the third quarter. Former Team Odom AAU standout, Ty “Get Live” Williams, scored a fast and furious 31, getting D’s Crew as close as four points with 2:28 to play. However the height advantage of Gordie Malone and T2 neutralized their efforts by controlling the offensive boards at the end of the game.

Junie “Mr. Excitement” Saunders. Photo: Kyle Henry

Contributors: Sean Couch