Cagerz rally to knock off Gary 106-100
May 22, 2007 - United States Basketball League (USBL)
Kansas Cagerz News Release
The Kansas Cagerz rallied from an eight point fourth quarter deficit to pull away for a 106-100 win over the Gary Steelheads on Tuesday night at the Bicentennial Center.
Both teams spent a majority of the evening trading the lead back and forth, as there was six ties and three lead changes in the first six minutes of the game.
Kansas held onto a brief 13-11 lead with 6:49 left in the first when Gary got on a roll, outscoring the Cagerz 10-2 over the next two and a half minutes to take a 21-15 lead with 4:01 left in the quarter. Carl Edwards was the offensive spark for the Steelheads scoring eight of the ten points during the run.
Nate Johnson dropped a three to stop the Gary run, and the Cagerz held on to only trail 25-22 at the end of the first quarter as newly acquired Marcus Campbell scored just before the buzzer for Kansas.
Gary would open the second with a 10-4 run to go up by as many as nine, 35-26 on a bucket by Jermaine Blackburn with 9:15 to go.
Kansas would rally, using a pair of Anthony Johnson free throws to get things started as the Cagerz crawled back to tie things up at 45-all with 2:12 to go on when the Johnson duo got together for a bucket by Anthony on a pass from Nate. Kansas would take the lead on its next possession when Nate Johnson would hit Richardson for a bucket with 1:46 left.
James Williams would block a shot out of bounds as time expired in the quarter, but the officials determined four-tenths remained and Corey Minnifield scored to send Gary into the half with a 51-49 lead.
Former Kansas Cager Marlowe Currie would open the third with a bucket putting Gary up four, but the Cagerz would use free throws by Anthony Johnson with 10:14 left to take their first lead of the second half 56-55.
Both teams would trade the lead back and forth as there would be 10 lead changes and six ties in the third quarter alone. Jason Miller gave Kansas its biggest lead of the third on a dunk with 6:58 left, and that lead would be equaled at the 5:48 mark by Nate Johnson.
The Steelheads would go up by as many as five on back to back threes by Eddie Barlow as Gary would lead 85-80 after three.
Gary would push its lead out to eight with 9:25 left on a free throw by Chris Garnett, but Kansas wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet. A 20-5 Cager run would put Kansas up seven with 4:56 left on a bucket by Miller.
The Steelheads would make one final run at Kansas with a 7-0 run of their own to tie things at 100-all with 58.5 seconds left on a three by Jamario Moon. Miller would give the lead back to the Cagerz on a score with 47 seconds left and Nate Johnson and Miller would hit a pair of foul shots each as Kansas came away with the 106-100 win.
Kansas had six players reach double figures led by Richardson with 23 points and six assists. Nate Johnson had 22 to go along with seven assists, while Anthony Johnson had 18, Williams and Miller both with 12 points and 11 boards, and Campbell dropped in 10. Kansas was an even 50 percent from the field on 38-of-76 shooting, including 8-for-16 from behind the arc. Kansas dominated the boards, out rebounding Gary 53-39.
Edwards had 30 to lead Gary, while Barlow score 16 and Minnifield 15. The Steelheads were 37-of-79 from the field for 46.8 percent, and struggled at the free throw line, hitting 19-of-31 charity shots for 61.3 percent. Minnifield led Gary with seven rebounds.
The same two teams are back in action tomorrow night, facing each other at the Bicentennial Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00.
United States Basketball League Stories from May 22, 2007
- Cagerz rally to knock off Gary 106-100 - Kansas Cagerz
- Steelheads Fall at Kansas, 106-100 - Gary Steelheads
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