Chapter 420 - 1998 NCAA Tournament 2 (1/2)

Coach Guthridge praised the Tar Heels team players at halftime and asked them to continue attacking and defending so he also asked the Tar Heels team players to try not to make too many fouls while defending against Johnson of the Charlotte 49ers team.

Jake was also praised for controlling the Tar Heels team's attack well, Jake, Williams, and Carter attacked well on the three-point line and Jamison, Okulaja and even Carter did not have the opportunity to attack that much within the three-point line.

So in the 2nd half, Jake planned to attack more with moves within the three-point line and only sometimes try a few three-point shots and also count on Williams for that, so the Charlotte 49ers team's defense would be confused by that.

Jake also complained to his teammates who did not defend well against Diego Guevara when he entered the game, in the 2nd half the players in the defense had to defend better against him.

Everyone wanted to win and Jake knew how the Charlotte 49ers team could be a dangerous opponent in this game, they had to win and not get too tired to continue well in the NCAA tournament, so overtime would be terrible for the Tar Heels team in that game.

The 2nd half started with both teams pushing forward, the Charlotte 49ers team had a harder time attacking and had to rely on Johnson or another player who could get rid of the Tar Heels defense.

In another play, the Charlotte 49ers team was attacking and the ball was passed to Johnson again, he tried to make the play and failed to hit and Jamison got the rebound, he passed the ball to Jake who advanced for the attack with speed.

After passing through the middle of the court Jake passed the ball to Williams from the left, Williams advanced with the ball and after the three-point line he passed the ball to Okulaja later on, Okulaja had played well in the last games and so the defense Charlotte 49ers team soon pressed against him.

So Okulaja had to pass to Carter who was further back on the left, Carter received the ball and soon passed to Jake further back, the Charlotte 49ers team's defense soon prepared to defend against Jake, Carter, and Williams who were outside the line of three points.

But Jake did not attempt the shot and passed the ball to Jamison on the left in a long pass, Jamison received the ball and soon got rid of the player who was on defense to make a dunk and 2 more points for the Tar Heels team.

Just as Jake expected the defense of the Charlotte 49ers team, he didn't expect a move like that, so Jamison managed to make the dunk easier, so the Tar Heels team managed to increase the lead a little.

In another move, the Charlotte 49ers team was attacking and Colson and Guevara were playing, the Charlotte 49ers team seemed to have realized that Guevara was playing well and besides Jake, the other players on the Tar Heels team did not defend well.

So Jake was more focused on defense, Colson received the ball and Jake was not close to him to prepare to react, but Colson did not attempt the shot because Jake had already managed to make 4 blocks on him in that game.

So Colson passed to Guevara who was free on the left after passing behind the defense of the Tar Heels team, so Guevara did not hesitate and tried the shot from the outside, Jake was attentive and reacted quickly and even managed to jump and block.

Guevara did not expect this because Jake was away from him and defending against Colson, but now the two have become more cautious against Jake to try the three-point shot in that game again.

The game continued and the Charlotte 49ers team was on the attack again, this time Colson and Guevara were wide apart and Jake was defending against Guevara so Colson tried the shot and missed.

Johnson still managed to catch the rebound, but before he tried to layup Jake did the steal and advanced to the attack at speed, Jake always fought for the rebound and when he saw that Johnson won the rebound against Jamison he took the opportunity to make the steal.

Jake moved forward using all his speed for the attack, Colson and Guevara were still further behind and managed to react and returned to defend, but Jake was clearly faster than them and Guevara tried to hinder Jake before.

Jake made a feint and then a very fast crossover and Guevara ended up falling to the ground trying to react to Jake's speed, so Jake continued to advance with speed and Colson who was within the three-point line of defense tried to defend too.

So Jake who was away from the painted area decided to make the special move that was created by him, Jake made the Ghost move that made the ball disappear in front of the opponent and Colson was unable to see the ball for a moment.