LAS VEGAS – The Drew Gooden Soldiers were crowned the inaugural Las Vegas Fab 48 champions in the presence of King LeBron James at Bishop Gorman High School on Sunday night.
James stayed for most of the Soldiers' 86-66 victory over the Iowa Barnstormers to win the Invitational Division in front of 1,500 spectators. "It was a very good event," said Drew Gooden Soldiers coach Mark Olivier. "There were some very good teams and it was a diverse field. "We competed against teams that played all different styles." Jabari Brown had 19 points four assists for the Soldiers, who won the Drew Gooden Extra and finished in the top eight of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in the spring. Brown was named the tournament MVP following the conclusion of the game. Nick Johnson and Kyle Wiltjer added 16 points each for Oakland while Seth Tuttle led Iowa with 16 points.
"The Iowa team was something very different from the other teams we faced," Olivier said. "They were very fundamentally sound, set a lot of screens, had a lot of shooters and posed a challenge." Led by Nick Emery's19 points, Salt Lake Metro Black won the 17 Open championship by defeating Southwest Elite Black, 68-48.
Savoy Goodman had 24 points and Brandon Taylor added 20 as the Team Philly 16s beat the Oakland Soldiers 16s, 81-47, to win the 16-under Division championship.
More than 175 teams from over 20 states and Canada participated in the four-day event that ended on Sunday.
Deron Williams, Drew Gooden and Kyle Lowry were a few of the NBA players who showed up to support the traveling teams that they sponsor. Next year's tournament will be held July 22-25, 2011 at Bishop Gorman and other nearby locations.
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