Gwinnett Daily Post

BUFORD -- B.J. Puckett may have carried the offensive load for the Gwinnett Majic in Saturday night's World Basketball Association championship game at Bogan Park, but it was a play on the defensive end that made the most noise.

With less than three minutes left to play and Gwinnett leading comfortably by 16 points, Franklin's Jerrell Houston drove the lane only to have Puckett swat Houston's shot out of bounds, sending the standing room only crowd into a frenzy.

As the ball was gathered, the Dacula grad turned to the cheering fans and wagged his finger in the air, as if to say, "Don't bring that in here."

Puckett's theatrics at the end put a stamp on a night that saw him post a game-high 37 points to go along with 11 rebounds, earning him Most Valuable Player honors as the Majic defeated the Knights 133-113 to capture their second straight WBA title.

"This has just been a blast and these fans make it great," Puckett said. "Without them, this game would be boring. We had a fun night tonight."

Despite the large margin of victory, the win didn't come easy for Gwinnett as Franklin exploded for 43 points in the second quarter, carrying a 67-58 advantage into the locker room at the half.

Myles Thrash, who finished with 22 points for the Knights, led the charge in the second by hitting four 3-pointers, including a conversion of a 4-point play that helped Franklin lead by as many as 10.

But as hot as Franklin was in the first half, the Majic (12-3) defense sprung to life in the second half, cooling off the hot-shooting Myles and holding the Knights to 46 points in two quarters combined.

"To come back like that from a little adversity was nice," Puckett said. "Forty points in a quarter is insane and we just had to man up and get stops. Scoring for us is no problem but if we weren't going to play defense, we weren't going to win."

Scoring certainly wasn't a problem in the last two quarters for the Majic as it posted 33 points in the third period, eventually tying the score at 91-91 at the buzzer on an offensive rebound and putback by Marcus Brown.

From that point, Gwinnett rolled on offense by adding 42 more points, securing its ninth straight win and second consecutive title.

"It's always fun winning championships," Berkmar alum Adrien Borders said. "I've won a few myself but every time is a new experience. Most guys in this league come from overseas or are looking to go overseas or the NBA and the competition is real tough. Winning back to back feels good but that's going to put a bigger target on our chest for next season."

Borders added 19 points for the Majic while Mike Sloan scored 17. Patrick Shokpeka also hit for double-digits with 16 points while Brown was the fifth Majic in double figures with 14 points.

"In the second quarter, Franklin made a run and we couldn't handle it," Gwinnett head coach David Akin said. "They had all the energy and momentum. I told them at halftime that we were 0 of 10 in 3-pointers and 16 of 17 from the free throw line. That turned out to be the difference in the game. We had a terrific comeback in the second half. It isn't easy to win championships, you have to earn them."

Charles Little led Franklin with 27 points, while Houston scored 19.