Sports stats



Mavericks Take Houston by 20

December 23, 2009 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Southeast Texas Mavericks News Release


The SETX Mavericks (7-1) rebounded at home tonight vs a revamped Houston Takers (0-4) with a 119-99 victory at Ford Arena in Beaumont, TX.

The Mavericks started quickly led by swings Jermaine Blackburn and Josh Pace to take a double figure lead mid-way through the first quarter. Behind Blackburn, Pace, and with the return of point guard Anthony Lumpkin the Mavs cruised to a 14 point lead 29-15 at the end of the first period.

SETX stood firm in the second period as Alex Sanders, Johnny "Spiderman" Tyson, and Mike Crain came off the Mavericks bench to help the Mavs build as much as a 30 point lead with four minutes to play in the first half. The Mavericks led at half-time 60-38.

The Takers came out and showed heart in the third quarter as they fought back to cut the Mavs lead to single digits just under the five minute mark in the quarter. Henry Pettit, Jonathan Patton, and Josh Jones kept the pressure on the Mavericks and with just under a minute to play in the third quarter Houston took a one point lead at 82-81. Pace scored a quick basket to put the Mavericks back up 83-82 and Lumpkin hit one of two free-throws to build the lead back to 84-82. The Mavericks defense stiffened and with a defensive stop the Mavericks raced up court where Crain was fouled on a drive to the basket. Crain missed both of his two free-throws, but Tyson swooped in the pull down a crucial rebound and score as the quarter came to a close. The Mavs found themselves up by four points headed into the final quarter of play.

In the fourth quarter the Mavs pushed their lead back up to eight points, but again the Takers kept fighting back to challenge the Mavericks. A SETX run led by Blackburn, Pace, and Alex Sanders pushed the Mavericks lead back up to double figures with just under five minutes to play in the game. A Blackburn steal and lob dunk to Sanders put the Mavs back up by twenty points at the 2:25 mark left in the game and the Mavs found smooth sailing from there on to secure the win over the feisty Houston Takers.

MAVERICKS SCORING:

The Mavericks again placed five players in double figures led my Jermaine Blackburn's 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assist. Josh Pace scored 25 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Mavs point guard Anthony Lumpkin nearly recorded a triple double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assist. Johnny Tyson played in his 16th season as a pro and had a 13 point/5 rebound performance in his first action of the season. Alex Sanders had his best game of the season for the Mavs with 10 points off the Mavs bench. DeRon Rutledge led the Mavericks with 9 rebounds on the night and he chipped in 9 points. The Houston Takers were led by Henry Pettit's 24 points and Josh Jones added 19 points.

Mavericks Superlatives:

The Mavericks kept their 21 game homecourt winning streak alive. The Mavs record 30 game regular season winning streak ended in Kansas City, MO this past week. The Mavericks now hold the record for the most consecutive wins in ABA History by winning 30 straight regular season games. The streak lasted from December 14, 2008 till it ended on December 16, 2009 in KC. The SETX Mavericks also hold the record for the most regular season consecutive weeks as the #1 ranked team in the ABA Power Rankings at 14 consecutive weeks as #1. San Francisco replaced the Mavs as the #1 team earlier this week with the latest ABA Power Rankings were released. The Mavericks are currently ranked #3 in the latest ABA Power Rankings.

Mavericks Notes:

The Mavericks played tonight's game without center Jon Rogers, who was injured in the Kansas City game (ankle). Rogers 13 point and 14 rebound averages were missed. Rogers will be ready for the Mavs next game at home vs the Texas Fuel.

The Mavericks will bring in two point guards over the holiday break to secure and upgrade their backcourt.

Mavericks Next Game:

The Mavericks will be off for Christmas until Monday; December 28th when they will return to practice in preparation for their Saturday; January 2nd game at home vs the Texas Fuel. Tip-off is scheduled at the Ford Arena in Beaumont at 7:30 PM.

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 December 23, 2009


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.

Other Recent Southeast Texas Mavericks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central