Brown and Shaw lead Baseline-WBA Stars to 104-83 exhibition win over Oxford College
Published on October 26, 2004 under World Basketball Association (WBA) News Release
By David Archer, Jr.
Covington, Georgia - The Baseline-WBA Stars caught fire in the second half, leading by as many as 27, en route to a 104-83 win at Oxford College on Tuesday evening. Oxford College, with four returning starters is much improved squad who finished 16-16 last season.
Baseline lead 16-6 in the early minutes, before Austin Ewing went on a 3-point spree to bring Oxford to within 27-23 with 8:00 left in the half. The Sophomore point guard drilled 4 threes during the stretch, despite nursing a healing separated shoulder. Ewing had 17 in the first half, while hitting 5 of 7 trey attempts. Baseline was able to counter Ewing's scoring antics as Jason Shaw (191-G, college: Alabama St.) went 4 of 8 from the 3-point line and sank all 3 of his free throws to tally 15 at the half. Baseline took a 50-39 intermission lead.
The Stars' Marquis Wright sank a 3 early in the second half for a 53-39 lead, but Oxford, behind Ewing and Adrian Sosa, went on a 14-4 rally to trim the Baseline lead to 57-53. Baseline called timeout to adjust and set up a defensive press, that Oxford seemed to handle admirably. The Stars called off the zone press, and after going to a pressure man defense went on a 12-0 run to all but put Oxford away. Oxford, falling behind by as many as 91-64 at one point, again fought back to cut it to 99-81 late in the game. But, that was as close as they would come.
Bobby Brown (201-F-79, college: Kennesaw St.) (Kennesaw St.) paced all scorers with 25, while pulling 9 boards, collecting 4 steals and shooting 8 of 14 from the field. Shaw (Alabama St.) finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, as Joe Hamilton (198-F, college: Virginia Tech) (Virginia Tech) had 18 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals; Marcus Henderson (201-F-81, college: Athens St.) (Athens St.) downed 12 points and handed out 4 assists, while Marquis Wright (Alabama) hit 11. Also, for Baseline Rodney Kirtz (Mercer) and Robbie Simpson (Mt.Zion) each collected 10. The Stars shot 38 of 69 from the field, good for 55.1% for the game.
Ewing, a 2003-4 Southeastern Pro Am participant, led Oxford with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, while Sosa finished with 12 and Sam Gainor 10. Oxford College will open up its official regular season next week against Fort McPherson.
The Baseline-WBA Stars, now 6-3 on the Tour season, 27-5 over all in, travel on Thursday evening to take on Reinhardt College in Waleska, Georgia. The Eagles, who made it to the NAIA National Tournament in 2004, defeated Baseline last season 83-79 in a pre-season exhibition match. Beginning a tough stretch of games Saturday night, the Stars will take on Mt. Olive Prep, Fort McPherson, Clayton State and Georgia Perimeter on consecutive days.
For information about the Baseline-WBA Stars Exhibition Tour please visit http://www.wbaball.net or http://www.leaguelineup.com/sebl .
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NOTES: Brown and Henderson were both members of the WBA's Rome Gladiators, while Hamilton had stints with the Macon Blaze and Gladiators in last season's WBA.... Shaw was with the Bristol Crusaders WBA squad in the first half of the 2004 season.... Rodney Kirtz, one of the all-time leading scorers at Mercer University, was in training camp with the Gladiators last season, but opted not to play during the 2004 WBA season... Former Clayton State PG Jonathan Reed, who directed the Baseline Mustangs squad to a victory over Oxford last Saturday, will join the Stars for the next 5 games. Reed was also in the Glads WBA camp early in the 2004 season... Baseline to count three Martinique games as victories. Because of the late notice by the Virgin Islands team to opt out of showing for the 3 games scheduled this week and since the organization took ample steps to promote the games versus Martinique, Baseline will claim the cancelled contests as forfeit victories. The victories will up Baseline's record to 27-5 overall and 6-3 on the exhibition season. Baseline defeated Martinique in consecutive matchups in October of 2002.
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World Basketball Association Stories from October 26, 2004
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