Jerome "JYD" Williams breaks five-year-old Summerlin single-game rebounding record

Williams

On April, 28, 2014, Travis “No Fly Zone” Scribner grabbed 35 rebounds in a 101-43 win in the Summerlin Open League.

That record stood for over five years and seven months, as it was broken last night by Jerome “Junk Yard Dog” Williams (how fitting that it came from another player with a nickname that can be shortened to a three-letter acronym). JYD grabbed 37 rebounds (21 defensive, 16 offensive) last night in a 99-85 playoff win over the Free Agents in the Summerlin Open League.

“JYD wants to win. He’s playing hard, diving for loose balls and wants to win the open title. He’s coming for everyone; it’s playoff time,” Summerlin league coordinator, L.C. Comine, said.

I can’t say this is something we weren’t expecting, as JYD put the rest of UH Las Vegas on notice last week with a highlight video with the caption “#DogGPound is coming!!!” The highlights came from an 85-72 win for Ball Stars over Faith Over Fear in the final game of the regular season. JYD had 29 points and 29 rebounds in that win, which foreshadowed last night’s performance.

JYD didn’t just grab dozens of rebounds last night, he also scored 27 points on 10-11 shooting from the field (with his only miss being the only 3 he attempted), adding eight assists. This is a little different than the previous record-breaking performance from Scribner, who had six points on 2-8 shooting in his 35-rebound game, but he did add 10 blocks for an unorthodox double-double.

The expected win for Ball Stars last night sets up a juicy semifinal against the Villains next week. The Villains have defeated the Ball Stars twice this season, once by two points and once by seven points. Comine has set the line for that game, making the Villains a 1.5-point favorite. It is expected to be a close game, and with the way JYD is playing, it won’t be a huge shock if the Ball Stars pull the slight upset.

“Ball Stars can absolutely beat BTE and Villains. They already beat BTE this season,” Comine said. “Villains will be looking to beat them for the third time this season, which we know is very hard.”

The other big story from last night’s game was the performance from Damian Cole in a losing effort. The Free Agents finished 0-9 this season, but you can’t fault Cole for that. The main reason last night’s game was close was due to the play of Cole, who had 56 points, 11 rebounds and six steals in a breakout game for the UH rookie.

“He is a classic example of a great player who will be on a team next season,” Comine said.