Jam sweep past Imperials
February 26, 2007 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Jacksonville Slam News Release
With a 122-104 victory on Sunday afternoon on their homecourt at UNF Arena in Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Jam (25-8) won their regular season series over the Palm Beach Imperials (10-16) 9-0. This is a feat that is rarely seen in basketball today on ay level, and it included 5 victories on the Imperials homecourt at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL over the course of the ABA regular season.
"I'll tell you in all of my years of coaching this game have I ever seen a team sweep a quality team as we have this season against Palm Beach! It is a credit to our team for the way we have approached each game, for we have a lot of respect for the Palm Beach team. They play so hard all the time! I truly believe if they were in any other division that they would have competed for a divisional championship. I hope they make the ABA Playoffs, for they are very deserving to be a playoff team! " states Jam head coach, Steve Tucker.
The Jam once again came out ready to play and set a fast pace with point guard, Anthony "Lump" Lumpkin and swing forward, Jerry "Mouse" Williams setting the tone early in the game for the Jam. Off guard, Bobby St. Preux also came out firing from the outside and the Jam quickly jumped out to a double figure lead. Frontline players, Nick Wallery and Johnny Tyson secured the lane area and the Jam were off to a huge first quarter. The Jam led after one period of play 38-26.
In the second quarter, the Jam bench led by veteran power forward, DeRon "Smoke" Rutledge controlled the game as the pace slowed. The Jam defensive effort was excellent and Jacksonville extended its lead to 24 with three minutes to play in the second quarter. The Jam held off a late Imperials surge to go in up 61-43 at half-time.
Jacksonville started the second half off quickly and once again extended its lead to twenty plus, but Palm Beach battled back to cut the Jam lead to 14 points with 2.30 to go in the third period. Antonio "Red" Lawrence came out of a Jam time-out to hit a big 3 point basket to extend the Jam lead back to 17, and the Jam rallied from there to regain control of the game go into the last period of play with a 16 point lead.
In the fourth quarter Williams, Lumpkin, Lawrence, Tyson, and Jam point guard, Ray Rose controlled play for Jacksonville as the Jam once again extended their lead to over twenty points. The Jam went back up by 25 points at the midpoint of the fourth quarter. The Jam bench led by Rose, Lawrence and guard, Anthony Hatcher maintained control of the game the rest of the way, and the Jam went on to claim another victory over the Palm Beach Imperials.
Jacksonville placed eight players in double figures for the game. Williams once again led the way for the Jam with 24 points. Rutledge followed up with 16 points and 7 rebounds. "Spydaman" Tyson dominated the lane area again for the Jam with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots. Bobby St. Preux quietly fired in 15 points from the perimeter for the Jam. Lawrence and Hatcher contributed 12 points each off the bench for the Jam, and Rose and Wallery each scored 10 points respectively to close out the double figure scorers for the Jam. Carl Jenkins had a banner night for Palm Beach with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Chauncy Davis followed up with 25 points.
The Jam will be off until next weekend when they travel to Orlando to face the Orlando Aces (7-18) on Saturday night and will be back at home next Sunday afternoon to close out the ABA Regular season home schedule with another afternoon game. Tip-off is scheduled at UNF Arena at 3:05pm.
JAM NOTES:
* Jam swing forward, Jerry Williams has been on a roll as of late averaging 24.4 ppg and 11.6 rpg over his last eight games. Williams was an ABA All-Star this season scoring 18 points in the ABA All-Star Game in late January.
* The Jam have won 7 of their last 8 games and 9 of its last 11 games to push its record to 25-8 on the season thus far. The Jam are 14-3 at home this season and hold an 11-5 mark on the road.
* Jacksonville remains the #4 rated team in the weekly ABA Power Ranking that came out today (Sunday). Vermont is still ranked #1 in the ABA with Arkansas and Texas following closely behind.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
American Basketball Association Stories from February 26, 2007
- Jam sweep past Imperials - Jacksonville Slam
- Royal come up short against Frost Heaves - Montreal Royal
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
