"We came in to win and that's what we did," Legend forward Darrin Hancock said. "It took us a couple of minutes to get running because of everybody had built up nerves. But once we calmed down, we got rolling."

As it has been all season, it was the work on the defensive end that gave the Legend (25-8) the championship in its inaugural season.

"I think we pressed up on them more in the second half," Davison said. "We made them step out a little bit further than where they were comfortable doing and then all of a sudden, they just missed some shots.

"There's only so much you can do. We just tried to get up on them and make them do some things that they really don't want to do."

It was more amazing that Legend general manager Tom Nelson had less than 100 days to get a coaching staff and a team ready for the start of the season in April.

"Who would have thought that we would be holding this trophy in our first year," Legend general manager Tom Nelson said. "What an unbelievable six months and it was because of our incredible coaching staff that got the guys in here and they made me look like a good general manager."

Legend guard Artie Griffin was named most valuable player of the tournament. He led Dodge City with 22 points in the championship game, but also received it because of his defensive efforts throughout the tournament.

"To tell you the truth, I just played," Griffin said. "Whatever happened and situations come up and you just answer the call.

"It wasn't just me. I've got great teammates and you can't concentrate on just one person. I going to be with these guys the rest of my life. These guys are just like my brothers and coach Davison is like my father. We're one family now."

League most valuable player Sean Colson overcame a scoreless first half to score 16 points.

"I just let the refs get to me and it was just the little stuff," he said about his first half drought. "I was focused but I just tried to do too much in the first half.

"In the second half, we got the job done. Tonight, I didn't play well and myteammates picked me up."

Davison said the slow start was just because of nerves.

"We were the No. 1 seed and they were the No. 7 seed," he said. "It was because of the expectations we had and we had some huge expectations. We were able to gather ourselves and play well in thesecond half.

"I've been telling them all the time that when you're playing in the championship -- NBA, USBL -- it's special. This is our biggest basketball game of our life and we can say we won the biggest basketball game."

Even though the Legend were seeded first and the Storm seventh, most of the games came down to the final buzzer. Oklahoma had beaten the second-seeded Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs and the third-seeded New Jersey ShoreCats to make it to the championship game.

"I didn't want it any other way," Hancock said. "The two best teams in the league I felt were Oklahoma and us. That's the way it went down."

Oklahoma finished the season 16-17.

After the Legend held Oklahoma without a basket for a three-minute stretch early in the game, the Storm went on a 18-1 run to lead 21-9 with just under four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Dodge City was held without a field goal for over six minutes of the period, but answered with a 8-0 run to trail only 21-17 after the first stanza.

The Legend went on a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter to take a 32-29 lead, but Oklahoma answered back with a 15-2 run to lead 44-34 with 2:25 remaining in the half.

Oklahoma led 46-40 at halftime.

Neither team shot well from the field -- Dodge City shot 15 for 39 (38.5 percent), while Oklahoma was 17 for 41 (41.5 percent). The Legend also had trouble shooting from the free-throw line -- six for 15 in the first 24 minutes.

Colson started to get hot in the third quarter, making four of his first five shots to keep the Legend in the game. He scored nine points as the Storm's lead was cut to one at 58-57 midway through the quarter.

The Legend was able to take the lead on a lay-up by Griffin and held a 67-65 lead with one quarter remaining. Colson scored 12 points in the quarter.

Dodge City went on a 14-4 run over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to hold an 81-69 lead. The Storm was held to two baskets during a 10-minute stretch of the second half.

"We just had to go out and stay up on them. I thought our interior defense was just incredible. Alvin (Jefferson) just made some great tips and Kelvin did a great job of rebounding the ball. Those are things that made a difference."

The Storm made a final run, but the Legend made its free throws down the stretch. The final score was the closest Oklahoma got in their comeback.

"This game comes down to defending, rebounding and who makes the baskets at the crucial times," Davison said. "You see the final score and you know who made the baskets at the crucial times."

For Davison, this season has been a lot of firsts: first professional head coaching job, first division title and now first professional league championship.

"This game has brought a lot of heartache to me through the years," he said. "Today, it just happened to be our turn to celebrate. It's just one of those things that you just go back next year and try everything you can to work to this point."