The Ball Up Tour recently returned to Indianapolis where the Indy Pro Am team faced the Ball Up team. The tour included street ball legends including “The Bone Collector,” “The Professor” and “AO.” Drawing a packed house, the Indianapolis team jumped out quick ahead of the Ball Up team behind former Ben Davis High School star Deven Williams who had a hot hand from the three-point mark all evening.
Ball Up took the lead early in the third quarter behind veteran star AO who said, “This is like my 7,000 game with the And 1/ Ball Up tour. We were down early but we didn’t panic.”
Though the best-of-Indy team was coached by Indiana Pacer George Hill, the Ball Up Team finished the game victorious 132-118 during the Sunday night game held at Arsenal Technical High School.
While the game results appear as if Ball Up had their way, that was not the case at all. The game was tied at 117 a piece with three minutes to go in the game. From then on the Ball Up team closed the game out on a 15-1 run.
The game was very competitive. Indy even had the lead at halftime 60-50. Ball Up was not going away quietly and after the halftime break, Ball Up poured on 82 points on the board and outscored Indy by 24 to bust open the lead to victory.
Indy’s team was selected earlier that day at Washington Park. Anyone was welcome to try out in front of Hill, as well as former NBA all star Gilbert Arenas, who joined the Pacer point guard as coach on the Indy team.
“This is Indiana so you have a lot of great guys who can score the ball,” said Hill. “So I told them as long as we play defense we’re going to score the ball and we’re going to pass the ball, we should be fine. My coaching philosophy is just to get up and down and run and play defense.”
Williams, who was one of players selected for the Indy team did not waste his chance to show off his skills against the best street ball players.
“Open run was great. We ran through a couple of drills and played,” Williams said.
Andre Mack, also a selection for Hill’s Indy team, was not shy of the moment.
“This was not my first Ball Up game. I have played against those guys before so it wasn’t any extra pressure,” said Mack.
One of the most anticipated players on the tour, The Professor, could not play due to injury, but it did not stop the game from being a fast-paced showdown with the two teams. The Ball Up all stars were lead by AO and “G Smith” who both connected on a few “alley oops” to get the crowd on their feet. Bone Collector, who is one of the veterans on the team, dazzled the crowd with his dribbling skills and passing ability that found players like “Spring” and “Mr. Afrika” on a couple of dunks.
The sold-out crowd at Tech High School did not leave disappointed. Williams, the hometown kid, put up 50 points and the Ball Up all stars putting on a great dunk show. The State of Indiana witnesses some good basketball players in our own backyard.
