Sports fans it's finally here!!!!!! The NCJBL 2011 season has started!!!

The season opened with a match up between the Ephesus Diplomats and Voice of Hope. Ephesus is a team with many years of experience in the league winning the chip on more than 2 occasions. Voice of Hope are relative newcomers to the league, entering into their second season.

As the game started both teams took a few minutes before they were able to get on the scoreboard. The score was initially close then Ephesus got the early lead and started to pull away from Voice of Hope. The first half ended with Ephesus firmly in the lead.Halftime score Voice of Hope - 16, Ephesus - 37

In the second half Ephesus dominated early adding to their lead. Voice of Hope started getting it together, clicking as a team. They stepped up their game and started trying to close the scoring gap. Ephesus was able to maintain and add to their lead. In the last three minutes of the game things really heated up! It started with a 3pter by Voice of Hope that cut the Ephesus lead to 11 points. The lead was then cut to 9 points with 2:51 on the clock. Then it was down to 7 points. Then Ephesus added 3 points off a free throw and lay-up to extend the lead to 10 points. Voice of Hope responded and cut the lead to 8 again. Ephesus added 2 point to extend the lead back to 10 points with 58.7 seconds on the clock. A 3 pointer by Voice of Hope cut the lead to 7 points. The lead was then cut to 5 points with 11.3 seconds left on the clock. The fans went wild! At 5.4 seconds Ephesus # 3 was fouled he made 1 basket to extend the lead to 6 points. Voice of Hope could not comeback in the last few seconds remaining and when the whistle blew Ephesus won the season opener. Final Score - Voice of Hope -60 Ephesus - 65.