Navigators avenge loss to Beijing Aoshen Olympian
December 31, 2005 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Tacoma Navigators News Release
(TACOMA, WA)-The Tacoma Navigators avenged a loss to Beijing Aoshen Olympian on Thursday night with a 112-104 victory Friday night that featured three double-doubles by star guards Tim Ellis and Rashaad Powell and power forward Dontay Harris. It was the third time this season the trio has each put up double figures in points and rebounds in the same game. Ellis, a 6'4" shooting guard from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School, collected game-high scoring honors for the 15th time in his stellar ABA career with a 29-point, 11-rebound performance that left the Mt. Tahoma High School crowd pleased they attended on a cold, rainy night. Harris, a Mt. Tahoma alum, mixed mid-range jumpers from the baseline with high-arching shots from the top of the key for 22 points while collecting 15 boards and three blocked shots. Powell, a 6'6" swingman from nearby Renton High School who was Big West Defensive Player of the Year while playing for the University of Idaho, tallied 24 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Beijing got off to a good start with 6'9" guard Sun Yue and 6'9" forward Jin Xin hitting three pointers after 7'1" guard Zhang Song Tao opened the game with a 15-footer from right of the foul line. When 6'10" center Paul Shirley completed a rare four-point play by draining a three during a 3-D defensive opportunity, it looked like the visitors from Southern California would be off on another romp. But, Ellis and Harris tossed in jumpers from just inside the arch, and Powell blocked a shot, recovered the ball and started a 3-on-2 fastbreak that put the Navigators up 18-14. The home team extended the lead to a dozen in the second period before the talented Beijing team trimmed it to four with 6:13 to go in the half. A late surge by Tacoma gave the Navs a 64-52 advantage at the intermission.
Beijing never quit, however, despite being down by a game-high 22 points in the middle of the third. Chrismen Oliver, a 5'10" point guard, knocked down three three-pointers in the third period to cut the Tacoma lead to 91-72 for the start of the fourth. Shirley, who got 10 of his 28 overall points in the final frame and converted two 3-D's on the night for seven points, led a hot-shooting comeback that narrowed the lead to just two points with 2:14 left. Clutch free throws by point guard Jamal Miller and small forward Kaelin Moore on a technical foul called on Aoshen head coach Lashun McDaniel sealed the win for Tacoma. Miller had 15 points including three three-pointers for the victors, while Shirley led six Beijing players in double figures, including Jin (13), Zhang (12), Huang Hai Bei (12), Oliver (12) and Fred Vinson, the former Seattle Sonics guard who dazzled the crowd with seven three-pointers and 32 total points the night before, also added 12.
Tacoma improved its season record to 8-4 to pull within a half game of the division-leading San Jose Skyrockets, while Aoshen Olympian slipped to 8-2. Tacoma and Beijing have been holding discussions about co-hosting an ABA double-header in Vancouver, British Columbia in late February and should have some news shortly.
For more information please visit: www.TacomaNavigators.com, www.abalive.com or www.aoshenbasketball.com.
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.
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- Navigators avenge loss to Beijing Aoshen Olympian - Tacoma Navigators
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