Buzzsaw beats Ozone 60-34 in SlamBall's return opener

Buzzsaw did not just win SlamBall’s return opener. It flattened Ozone 60-34 in the middle game of the second session at Cox Pavilion, delivering the kind of fast, physical margin that made the league’s comeback feel immediate. Ralph Bellamy led the way with 18 points, and Tyquan Scott backed it up with 10 stops, turning the game into a showcase of the offense-defense punch that can decide a four-quarter SlamBall night in a hurry.

The result landed on a packed opening night in Las Vegas that kept moving from one decisive outcome to the next. Mob beat Rumble 71-36, Slashers edged Lava 67-63, and Mob later rolled past Slashers 62-23, leaving Buzzsaw’s win as part of a launch slate that mixed blowouts with one tight finish and never let the energy drift. For a league trying to reestablish itself as a highlight-heavy TV product, that mattered as much as the final score.

Bellamy was the obvious offensive focal point. The St. Louis native came into the relaunch with a background that already fit SlamBall’s style, having averaged 20 points per game at Clayton High School before starring at Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa. Against Ozone, he kept that scoring profile front and center, giving Buzzsaw a dependable finisher while the game was still being decided.

Scott supplied the other half of the formula. The Long Beach native, who scored 1,000 career points at Herkimer College and said he had never been on a trampoline before learning about SlamBall, made his presence felt on the defensive end with 10 stops. That kind of production is exactly what the league needs from players who can survive the athletic chaos of the format and still control a game.

Buzzsaw’s opening-night statement also fit the wider shape of the 2023 relaunch. SlamBall returned with eight teams, including new franchises such as Buzzsaw, Ozone, Gryphons and Wrath, and each club was led by a former SlamBall player or coach. The league said the 56 drafted players carried an average age of 26.9, underscoring a roster pool built for speed, not nostalgia.

ESPN launched the season on Friday, July 21, 2023, with more than 60 hours of action across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+, all centered at Cox Pavilion. The championship game was set for Thursday, August 17, on ESPN2. Buzzsaw’s 60-34 win gave that rollout exactly the kind of high-flying, decisive opener it needed, and immediately put Bellamy and Scott on the early list of names to watch.