Bad News Bears survive two overtime maps to finish ESEA Spring Cash Cup 1 undefeated
Bad News Bears have secured their third ESEA Cash Cup title, this time winning the first iteration of the Spring Cash Cup series with 2-0 sweeps over High Coast and paiN. High Coast secured the third place match with a 2-0 sweep of Triumph.
RBG took High Coast the distance in the best-of-one quarterfinal, even with Troy "ara" Pollock playing in place of Kyle "Wolffe" Greenfield. Jadan "HexT" Postma led all players with 29 kills, while Rodrigo "RCF" Figueiredo led the victors with 27 eliminations.
High CoastRBG| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
27 - 22 | +5 | 108.3 | 76.7% | 1.49 |
 Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
23 - 20 | +3 | 72.6 | 70.0% | 1.08 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
20 - 19 | +1 | 73.2 | 70.0% | 1.06 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
21 - 23 | -2 | 74.0 | 73.3% | 1.06 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
16 - 19 | -3 | 54.9 | 76.7% | 0.91 |
| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
27 - 20 | +7 | 104.2 | 73.3% | 1.42 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
29 - 21 | +8 | 96.0 | 80.0% | 1.33 |
| Troy 'ara' Pollock |
16 - 22 | -6 | 66.6 | 70.0% | 0.96 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
19 - 22 | -3 | 59.0 | 53.3% | 0.79 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
12 - 23 | -11 | 48.1 | 70.0% | 0.64 |
The other quarterfinal saw Triumph decisively advance over Oceanus as they paired an 11-4 CT-side on Nuke with a flawless second half to secure a matchup against paiN. Brendan "Bwills" Williams led the way with 24 frags for the stags, while Brandon "YuZ" Cyr topped the scoreboard for the Canadian side with 17 eliminations.
TriumphOCG| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
24 - 11 | +13 | 119.7 | 85.0% | 1.74 |
| Wesley 'viz' Harris |
21 - 10 | +11 | 112.1 | 85.0% | 1.74 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
20 - 12 | +8 | 117.0 | 85.0% | 1.64 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
12 - 6 | +6 | 55.2 | 80.0% | 1.15 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
14 - 10 | +4 | 59.9 | 80.0% | 1.11 |
| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon 'YuZ' Cyr |
17 - 19 | -2 | 95.5 | 75.0% | 1.11 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
12 - 18 | -6 | 75.5 | 60.0% | 0.77 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
9 - 17 | -8 | 54.3 | 55.0% | 0.70 |
| Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
7 - 18 | -11 | 43.4 | 45.0% | 0.48 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
4 - 19 | -15 | 29.6 | 35.0% | 0.25 |
Day two began with a convincing victory for paiN in the first semifinal. The South American side secured a 10-5 advantage after their CT-side on Nuke, led by Rafael "saffee" Costa's 15 kills. He would add 9 more on the T-side to finish with a team high 24 eliminations, though it was Austin "Cooper" Abadir that led the server with 25 frags.
paiN were even more convincing on Inferno, once again jumping out to a 10-5 lead on their CT-side. However, on the second map they conceded just a single round en route to securing the sweep and a spot in the grand final. saffee and Cooper led the way again, though this time saffee was the best in the lobby as the duo finished with 24 and 15 kills, respectively.
paiNTriumph| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
48 - 21 | +27 | 96.3 | 74.5% | 1.59 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
40 - 32 | +8 | 96.6 | 63.8% | 1.29 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
31 - 21 | +10 | 65.3 | 72.3% | 1.15 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
31 - 25 | +6 | 74.3 | 76.6% | 1.05 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
30 - 29 | +1 | 69.9 | 72.3% | 1.03 |
| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
40 - 36 | +4 | 87.8 | 63.8% | 1.18 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
26 - 37 | -11 | 71.2 | 53.2% | 0.83 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
18 - 35 | -17 | 51.3 | 53.2% | 0.69 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
22 - 34 | -12 | 58.0 | 57.4% | 0.66 |
| Wesley 'viz' Harris |
20 - 41 | -21 | 48.7 | 48.9% | 0.53 |
High Coast made Bad News Bears work for their sweep in the other semifinal. Both teams secured eight rounds on their T-side of Dust2 and the two sides needed overtime to separate them. High Coast had Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue and Ian "motm" Hardy eclipse 30 kills, but Bad News Bears had a much more even kill distribution, led by Gabe "Spongey" Greiner's 29 eliminations. Bad News Bears won in the first overtime, 4-2.
Things stayed close in first half of Nuke, with Bad News Bears scratching out a slim 9-6 lead after their T-side, but then the two teams switched sides and High Coast couldn't find an answer for the Bad News Bears defense. Peter "ptr" Gurney and friends won seven straight to close the series with a flawless half and advance to face paiN in the grand final. Jonathan "Jonji" Carey led all players with 28 kills, while RCF led High Coast with 15 frags.
Bad News BearsHigh Coast| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
49 - 38 | +11 | 92.9 | 69.0% | 1.33 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
44 - 37 | +7 | 79.9 | 82.8% | 1.26 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
43 - 38 | +5 | 82.4 | 67.2% | 1.13 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
37 - 28 | +9 | 66.6 | 72.4% | 1.07 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
32 - 38 | -6 | 66.0 | 70.7% | 0.91 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
44 - 38 | +6 | 77.9 | 74.1% | 1.13 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
45 - 41 | +4 | 85.1 | 67.2% | 1.08 |
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
42 - 42 | +0 | 69.6 | 58.6% | 0.99 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
29 - 42 | -13 | 62.1 | 63.8% | 0.77 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
19 - 42 | -23 | 48.2 | 56.9% | 0.61 |
Triumph and High Coast were left to fight for a spot on the podium and the smallest share of the prize pool, but it appeared that Triumph were only there to fight in the first halves of each map. Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman and his troops squandered a 9-6 lead in the opening map and allowed High Coast to bully them into submission as the attackers on Dust2, while they conceded the same scoreline at the half on Nuke and failed to get a single stop as the counter terrorists in the second half. RCF led all players with 45 kills in the series, while David "cynic" Polster led Triumph with 38 kills and was their only player with a positive KD.
TriumphHigh Coast| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
38 - 36 | +2 | 94.2 | 72.0% | 1.14 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
34 - 37 | -3 | 67.9 | 62.0% | 1.01 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
30 - 38 | -8 | 69.0 | 74.0% | 0.90 |
| Wesley 'viz' Harris |
25 - 36 | -11 | 60.3 | 72.0% | 0.89 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
27 - 37 | -10 | 60.8 | 70.0% | 0.81 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
45 - 28 | +17 | 88.1 | 72.0% | 1.44 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
41 - 31 | +10 | 91.9 | 78.0% | 1.40 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
36 - 29 | +7 | 67.4 | 76.0% | 1.11 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
34 - 33 | +1 | 75.7 | 80.0% | 1.05 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
28 - 33 | -5 | 68.8 | 76.0% | 1.04 |
In the big-money series paiN snuck out an 8-7 lead after their T-side on Dust2, but then Bad News Bears came roaring back with a 9-4 T-side of their own to secure the 1-0 series lead. Vinicios "PKL" Coelho and Michael "Swisher" Schmid each led their respective sides with 21 eliminations in the opening map.
After things shifted to Inferno Bad News Bears found themselves in an overtime match yet again. Both sides secured nine rounds on the CT-side of Inferno, but it was Bad News Bears who broke through and subdued the Brazilian side in the extra rounds, allowing them just a single round en route to a map, series, and tournament victory. Jonji led the lobby with 32 kills for Bad News Bears, though Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato wasn't far behind with 31 eliminations for paiN.
paiNBad News Bears| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
44 - 43 | +1 | 82.2 | 68.3% | 1.06 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
42 - 44 | -2 | 71.0 | 69.8% | 1.03 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
38 - 40 | -2 | 72.7 | 61.9% | 0.98 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
40 - 43 | -3 | 63.7 | 65.1% | 0.94 |
| Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
35 - 44 | -9 | 66.3 | 66.7% | 0.90 |
| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
52 - 43 | +9 | 105.5 | 76.2% | 1.38 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
47 - 36 | +11 | 75.4 | 73.0% | 1.10 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
42 - 34 | +8 | 69.8 | 69.8% | 1.07 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
36 - 41 | -5 | 65.2 | 76.2% | 0.97 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
36 - 46 | -10 | 62.1 | 66.7% | 0.90 |
The final standings for ESEA Spring Cash Cup 1 are:
1st - Bad News Bears (Swisher, ptr, Jonji, alter, Spongey) - $9,000
2nd - paiN (PKL, NEKIZ, hardzao, saffee, biguzera) - $4,000
3rd - High Coast (PwnAlone, ben1337, bew, RCF, motm) - $2,000
4th - Triumph (Shakezullah, Bwills, Cooper, viz, cynic)
5-6th - 
RBG (HexT, wiz, Walco, chop, ara)
5-6th - Oceanus (J0LZ, Melio, miLLe, vek, YuZ)
ESEA Spring Cash Cup 2 is scheduled for this coming weekend, March 27-28th.
