War Dog narrowly survives late game rally from Ventures

New York, NY — As expected, Financial Ventures opened the game in their pressure 2-3 zone, but there was a difference in tone than in their semifinal win over NFZ. Whereas the pressure D seemed to make the younger NFZ players tight, missing open looks, forcing passes they wouldn’t usually make, SK War Dog showed no such hesitation. This was a veteran that embraced the opportunity to play against a zone.

SKW (G) Kash Miah was tuned in right away as his early aggression from the perimeter helped to open up the War Dog offense and spread the FVG defense thin. It was only gritty, physical play that kept SKW within reach for Ventures. (F) Kev Chang had scored only 6 pts in the 1st half, (G) Jason Chin had only two.

Throughout the 3rd quarter, War Dog continued to extend its lead and looked ready to put this one away, particularly with (G) Pat Youreneff ably setting the table, and controlling the tempo. Ventures was forced to come out of its zone. Which gave its defense some signs of life.

In the 4th qtr, FVG (F) Stanley Paul started heating up as the SKW defense began to tire. Chang also managed to finagle some tough conversions in the paint, but War Dog pushed the lead back up to double-digit mark with key baskets from Miah and (G) “Vegas” Dave Wong who found the range with his trademark bank 3FGs off the wing. SKW (F) Ted Hao also provided great weak side defense to limit FVG opportunities in the paint.

This should have been an easy finish for War Dog except that late in the game, they saw typically strong FT shooters miss, and usually sure-handed veterans commit puzzling TOs. To make matters worse, Miah injured his knee on a non-contact play and had to sit out during crunch time.

Youreneff was left as the de facto closer. He shot 88% from the FT line this season, 92% last season while leading the league both seasons in attempts. But he missed 3 in the final minute, and that allowed FVG’s Chang to make it suddenly very interesting with a flurry of 3FGs. A double-digit lead was whittled down to a single possession.

But eventually, SK War Dog got the stops they needed as FVG missed on great opportunities to further extend the game. Youreneff’s rebounding during this stretch, (he finished with a game-high 10 reb), helped War Dog survive Ventures’ late rally, one with perhaps more second chances than SKW should have ever allowed.