WEMBLEY AWAITS MM WINNERS
08/10/2008 Wembley awaits the Midnight Madness semi final winners

Midnight Madness went back to it's roots on Friday as it ran through-the-night for the 2008 semi final.

The Under 21s were battling for 40 spots at this week's MM boot camp. That will see the players put through their paces alongside the Team GB senior mens team. The top performing 20 will then be selected to play in the junior final at Wembley this Saturday.

For the Over 21s, it was Wembley or bust...as around 100 players fought for the 20 spots at finals night.

It was a LONG night - six hours for each age group...with, for the first time, two courts of play counting towards the final scores.

Many of the usual suspects were shining in the Under 21s, but plenty of "new faces" managed to qualify too.

POINT GUARDS
Bode Adeluola, Amir Boucenna, Issac Nsiah, Eddie Morrison, Albert Margai, Tayo Ogunyinka, Daniel Ivan, Lawrance Gaston

SHOOTING GUARDS
Josh Johnson, Gary Miles, Demoy Robertson, Nathan Ashley, Michael Odumuso, Kenroy Wood, Deng Deng, Chris Hughes

SMALL FORWARDS
David Ajumobi, Tayo Ogedengbe, David Olorogun, Ryan Martin, Ghurpreet Radwana, Micheal Olowabi, Chris Pearce, Luke Mclean

POWER FORWARDS
Yannick Bulambwe, Will Neighbour, Courtney Van-Beest, Raimondas Pranckus, Kingsley Laudat, Jaiye Afolabi, Akin, Craig pringle

CENTRES
Tega Orugun, Jordan Ranklin, Joseph Irvine, Jason Beharie, Alex Soctland, Clayfell Harris, Curvin Esdelle, Dan Shaw

One qualifier, Eddie Morrison, told 24/7: "I didn't play as well as I could have...but I'm happy I qualified. I've just gotta prove it now in boot camp".

Looking ahead to the possibility of playing in front of thousands at Wembley, he said: "It would be the best experience of my basketball career so far - I hope I perform well."

Fellow qualifier Albert Margai is also looking forward to the possibility of playing at Wembley: "Man...the words can't explain how I'll feel. That's my goal - when I work out - to be at Wembley in front of thousands of people and just show them what I can do...and give a good account of myself. Obviously I've got to get through bootcamp to get that...but that's big time!"

At 18, Amir Boucenna was one of the youngest to make the grade. He told 24/7 "I'm just working hard. I don't really see my age as a barrier of any sort...I'm just going there and seeing what results come out."

Midnight Madness has a serious fan in Eddie Morrison. He opined: "If there wasn't Midnight Madness in the summer, I don't know what people would do.

"The opportunities it gives you...playing at Wembley...you could never do that a couple of years ago. It's great what they've done - bringing all the top players together, it increases everyone's competitive drive and makes me want to become a better player so I can go to the men's court and prove myself. It's a great idea, a great tournament, a great event."

At midnight the seniors got going (with several of the Under 21 qualifiers joining them).

Straight out the gate, Manchester's Stefan Gill (below)was killing it. Absolutely unstoppable...both on the drive and with the quick pull up jumper. Fellow Mancunian Stephen Gayle was also hot.

Before long, strong teams started emerging. One - featuring Perry Lawson, Germayne Forbes and Darius Defoe - seemed to stay on half the night. On the other court, Junior Miller, Laurent Irish, Tayo Ogedengbe, Carl Henry and one other (sorry, forgotten who it was!!) won game after game after game.

Surprise of the night was Leon Bernard, who managed to make the final 20 after putting a string of dunks and victories together late on.

There was some last minute drama as 3 people tied for the final shooting guard spot. So Taner Adu, Daniel Sandell and Marcus Knight had to have a free throw shoot out to decide who'd go to Wembley. The Knight Rider won - meaning his dream of making the trip to America for the fourth straight year is still alive.

So, it all goes down at Wembley this Saturday. If you haven't got your tickets yet, GET THEM NOW!!! When they announce who the music act is, the tickets are going to sell out FAST (trust me!!) Plus Team Flight Brothers and Slam Nation are going to murder the dunk contest. They're worth the price of admission alone!

24/7 will of course be there - with Greg Tanner presenting coverage for a Channel 4 documentary he's been working on (airing in September - more details to follow!!)