The first All-Star Game in league history came down to a single point. Adam's Team beat David's Team 8-7 on Saturday in an exhibition that produced a buzzer-beater, a missing All-Star, a player who scored for both sides, and an MVP vote that nobody has stopped arguing about since. The result counts for nothing in the standings. Almost everything else about the afternoon counted for something.
A No-Show Leaves the League a Player Short
Eight players were confirmed for the showcase: fan-voted All-Stars Jaxon Gladhart, Ben Martinsen, Frank Patrone and Ben Hoag, alongside all four captains. Adam Swartzfager and David Anderegg drafted the rosters Saturday morning. Then Ben Hoag didn't turn up, and eight became seven.
Rather than run the league's showcase game four-on-three, Gladhart played one quarter for each team — the first time in dooramp history a player has appeared on both benches in the same game. That left Swartzfager, Grant Bowers and Patrone on one side, David and Ashton Anderegg and Martinsen on the other, and Gladhart rotating between them. Hoag, having never appeared, does not receive the All-Star honor.
Swartzfager Beats the Second-Quarter Buzzer
The defining shot came at the end of the second quarter. Adam Swartzfager pulled from beyond the arc as time expired and buried it, a buzzer-beating three that flipped the lead to his side heading into the half. It was his only make from deep on two attempts, and in a game decided by one point, it was effectively the margin. He finished with 5 points on 2-of-8 from the one-point line plus the three, and stuffed the rest of the sheet with 3 assists, 6 blocks/steals and a rebound — the most complete line anyone produced all day.
Grant Bowers added a point on 1-of-3 with a block/steal. Frank Patrone, in his first appearance since the deadline deal that sent him to the Murray Mice, went 1-for-4 with a rebound.
Gladhart Scores for Both Teams
Gladhart's split shift produced the strangest stat line in league history: 2 points, one scored for Adam's Team and one scored for David's Team. He went 2-of-7 from the one-point line, missed all five of his attempts from three, and added an assist, 2 blocks/steals and 2 rebounds across his two quarters. Both of his points mattered — each team's final total includes exactly one of them. Take Gladhart out of the game entirely and the score is 7-6, the same one-point margin.
He was also playing on a broken toe, a detail that did not stay quiet for long.
The Anderegg Side Comes Up One Short
David Anderegg took the heaviest shooting load of anyone on the floor, going 3-of-12 from the one-point line and 0-for-3 from deep for 3 points, with 2 assists, 6 blocks/steals and a rebound. Ashton Anderegg matched him on the scoreboard with 3 of his own, and did it far more efficiently — 1-of-3 on ones and a perfect 1-for-1 on his lone two-point attempt, the only made two of the game — while adding an assist and 3 blocks/steals. Between them the Andereggs accounted for all 6 of their team's non-Gladhart points.
Benny Buckets and the Emptiest Line in Dooramp
Which brings us to Ben Martinsen. The All-Star box score next to his name reads, in full: zero points. Zero shot attempts. Zero assists. Zero blocks/steals. Zero rebounds. Not a single counting statistic in any column. Voted in by the fans, handed a place in the league's showcase game, Martinsen registered nothing at all.
It is, unfortunately, of a piece with the rest of his career. Across three regular-season appearances before Saturday, Martinsen has made exactly one shot — 1-for-9 from the one-point line — for one total point in his NDL career. He has never attempted a two. He has never attempted a three. He has zero career assists and zero career rebounds. His 5 blocks/steals are the lone line on his résumé with a number worth mentioning. Add the All-Star Game and he is 1-of-9 across four appearances, a career field that has now gone an entire additional game without moving.
The nickname on his league profile is "Benny Buckets." The record, after four games and one made shot, does not currently support it. A 2025 Winterdome Champion ring says he has been on the floor for winning dooramp. The box score says he has yet to contribute to any of it.
Then the MVP Vote Happened
Swartzfager had the buzzer-beater, the most points, the most assists and a share of the most blocks/steals. The award went to Gladhart — on two points split between both teams, shooting 2-of-12 overall. The reaction was immediate and it was not kind.
The All-Star Game is an exhibition. It does not count toward the standings, toward season or all-time totals, or toward games played. All seven players who appeared receive the 2026 All-Star honor. Only one of them left with a trophy, and the argument about whether he should have is still going.