Navigators Unleash Offense On Bellevue, 166-104
January 30, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Tacoma Navigators News Release
(TACOMA, WA)-The Tacoma Navigators professional basketball team unleashed the full force of former NBA and Seattle Sonics star Vincent Askew's high-octane offense that featured a record-breaking 53-point performance by shooting guard and newly-named ABA All-Star, Tim Ellis, a triple-double by power forward Dontay Harris, and a spectacular double-double by power forward and 2004-05 ABA All-Star Eric Sandrin in overwhelming the Bellevue Blackhawks Saturday night at Mt. Tahoma High School. The two teams put on a virtual indoor track meet with the final score of Tacoma 166, Bellevue 104.
The 6'4" Ellis, who pushed his season scoring average to 32.5 points per game, also grabbed ten rebounds for his 10th double-double of the year. It was the 18th time in his two-year ABA career that Ellis claimed game-high scoring honors. The 24-year-old superstar from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School justified his high ranking in the just-released list of probasketballnews.com's Top 40 of minor league players. Ellis joined 11 other ABA players in the Top 40 at #36 overall.
Right on Ellis' heels was the tandem power forward combination of 6'8" Harris and 6'9" Sandrin. The versatile Harris recorded his first ABA triple-double with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and playing in just his third game with the Navigators after playing for Bellevue and the Harlem Globetrotters last year and the Bellingham Slam this season, Sandrin went off for 32 points and 17 rebounds. Six-foot-six veteran swingman, Jim Rainwater, had his second-highest point total of the season with 38, and successfully launched his specialty, the three-pointer, six times in nine attempts. Six-foot-seven small forward Kaelin Moore and 6'10" center JaJuan Winesberry chipped in with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Bellevue played without head coach Rick Turner, who was on personal leave, and two starters were out with injuries, but point guard Chris Hyppa tossed in eight three-pointers and power forward Quentin Nolan tallied 33 points and 12 rebounds in posting his first double-double of the year. Bellevue shooting guard Jimmy Anderson accomplished a rare feat of two four-point plays in the second half by converting on two 3-D opportunities with three-point baskets.
Tacoma pushed its season record to 10-5 to remain in second place in the Ron Boone division behind the San Jose Skyrockets, while the defending Western Conference Champion Bellevue Blackhawks fell to 1-9. For further information please visit: www.abalive.com, www.TacomaNavigators.com or www.Blackhawkshoops.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 Unleash Offense On Bellevue, 166-104 - Tacoma Navigators
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