Uptown 61, Downtown 57

If there was going to be an All-Star Game with which to judge all other All-Star Games, this would have been the one. Not only were the players treated like royalty - from jerseys to kicks to warm-up jackets - but in turn they left the packed gym at 350 Grand Street salivating for more. Not one, but two overtimes later, and you had yourself and NRF All-Star Game for the ages.

Here were the starting lineups. For Uptown, they rolled out Chad Gittens, Rafael DaSilva, Will Perkins, LeKeith Taylor and Jeremy Siler, while Downtown started Omar Grant, Scott Williams, Dan Solomito, Jason Burke and Al Reyes. Surprising move by coach Tony Chan to start both of his Terminator players, but understandable nonetheless.

To start the game, as you knew he would, DaSilva came out firing as he hit his first three-point attempt. On the other end, Taylor was showing the whole crowd why people call him "The Frank Man," as he swatted one back into the stands. After checking into the game, Christian Grant-Fields was in full-attack mode. Fueled by the fact that he didn't get the start, Grant-Fields was taking no prisoners. After one possession, Downtown clearly read the scouting report as they knew to send him to the line. At the stripe, emcee for the night Bobbito Garcia let the crowd know that Grant-Fields was "the worst foul shooter in America," as the first one failed to even draw iron. Missing the second one as well, Garcia just might be right.

So after seven minutes, Uptown had built a lead of 11-5. As both teams were feeling each other out, Downtown tried to mix things up with a full-court press. Coming off the bench, Uptown's Jomo Davis pulled off his patented up-fake and jumper - something he could probably do in his sleep at this point. Answering him was Downtown's Bang Takenouchi, whose passes were impeccable and jumper was wet.

Enter Pat Cassidy. At the 10-minute mark, Cassidy came in and knocked down a three to put Uptown up 16-9, only to come back a few possessions later and hit another one. Before you knew it, five minutes had passed and Uptown's lead had grown to 23-12. Moving the ball around, finding the open man, by halftime the score was 30-18 in favor of Uptown.

But then something happened. Downtown started the half in a 1-2-2 zone, and before you knew it, they were on the path back. Williams, whose never been known as one to keep his temper in check, was even getting rattled in the All-Star Game. With foul trouble sending him to the bench, the refs were public enemy no. 1. Paced by Burke - who was playing through an injury - Downtown battled back, cutting the lead to 35-23 with 12:30 to go. Add back-to-back buckets from Grant and Solomito, along with a nice deuce from Takenouchi, and the score was 37-32 with 10 left to play.

Back-and-forth it went, as Burke had a nice little shake-and-bake bucket, before DaSilva answered with back-to-back buckets of his own. With two minutes left, Uptown's lead was 43-36. But somehow, Downtown wouldn't give up. After Burke missed a dunk (!) he stepped to the line and made two; this was followed by Solomito knocking down a ridiculous jumper falling down to make it 43-42. Sending Cassidy to the line, the cold-blooded marksman knocked down two, only to be shown up by Grant on the other end who converted the and-one.

Tied 45-45 with 45 seconds left, DaSilva took it in and turned it over. But thankfully for him, Taylor hustled back on D to swat the shot on the other end. A couple possessions both ways, which included some huge rebounds from Taylor, but neither team could make it happen in regulation.

In overtime, back-to-back buckets from Gittens and DaSilva put Uptown on-top 50-45, but another ridiculous and-one from Grant and it was back to a two-point game. Williams, who had been quiet for most of the game, got up a three and banked it home. Sending Gittens to the line, Uptown led 53-51 with 55 seconds left. Clearly playing bigger than a rookie, Solomito came down the next possession - fearless - and hit a jumper after a nice jab step to tie the game with 25 seconds to play. But even after a timeout and setting up for one last play, Uptown couldn't close 'em out. That's right people, double overtime.

It was only in double OT that Uptown finally pulled away. After a bad call from the refs, Grant went into the stands (which were crazy rowdy at this point as you can imagine) and showed the "C'mon son" sign to one of the officials. Still, halfway through the overtime, the score was tied 54-54. That is before Taylor took it to the cup, got the bucket and then the steal. After DaSilva missed two at the stripe to make it a two possession game, Downtown called a timeout with just under a minute player. The rest is history. Two missed free throws from Burke, followed by a split from Taylor, and two more missed freebies from Grant - the game was just about over. In the final seconds, Taylor and Cassidy both knocked in a pair to seal the deal.

Final score: Uptown wins, 61-57.

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