Rosario Powers Tropics To Third Win Vs. Jam
December 13, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Miami Tropics News Release
After the Miami Tropics had blown a 25-point lead on Tuesday night, center Karel Rosario could have been nervous. He was making his first-ever start with the team, and the game was slipping away in the final minute.
But Rosario was steady. After all, he faces more pressure than basketball. He's a full-time cop in the Doral section of Miami.
"I risk my life every day," Rosario said.
Given that perspective, it is no wonder Rosario remained calm, drew a big charge and was the hero in the Tropics' huge 94-91 win over the visiting Jacksonville Jam.
"That was a huge play for us," Tropics owner/president Art "Pilin" Alvarez said. "That game could have gone either way."
Drawing the foul wasn't Rosario's only big play. He also had a game-high 22 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Both are season highs for Rosario, who got his first double-double with the Tropics.
His stellar play led the Tropics (7-3) to their third consecutive win over the Jam (9-3), a team that would be undefeated if it did not have to play Miami.
The Jam were ranked No. 1 in the 53-team ABA before the Tropics visited them on Dec. 1. Since that day, the Tropics have gone 3-0 vs. Jacksonville, which dropped one spot in the rankings after each of their first two losses.
By now, there should be no excuse for the ABA not to rank the Tropics No. 1 in the state since they have a winning record over every team in Florida.
The Tropics' first two wins over the Jam were by a combined total of 30 points. And in the second of those wins, the Tropics were operating on virtually no rest
But give the Jam credit. They rallied on Tuesday despite being the more-tired team this time after having played 3 games in the previous 4 days. They also lost their starting point guard, Derrick Williams, to a season-ending knee injury in a win over Palm Beach on Monday night.
Given all that, it was no surprise that the fresher Tropics led 20-15 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, shooting guard Carlos Escalera took over. Escalera, the Tropics' leading scorer all season, had been expected to sit out Tuesday night's game due to a groin injury that has bothered him for the past week.
But Escalera seemed healed in the second quarter. At one point he scored 9 straight points, curling off screens, firing fade-away jumpers and hitting a three-pointer.
And after those four straight baskets, with the Jam looking to stop him, he dished for assists on the Tropics' next two possessions.
With Escalera dealing - he had 12 points in the quarter and 16 at the half - the Tropics took a 53-30 lead into intermission. Rosario finished the half with 10 points and 9 rebounds. The Tropics also won the first-half rebounding battle (28-17), had 3 fewer turnovers and held the Jam to 36-percent shooting.
All that changed in the second half, however, as the Jam got hot. They made 52 percent of their shots after halftime, cutting the Tropics' lead to 73-63 after three quarters.
The Tropics seemed helpless to stop the Jam. Escalera, perhaps feeling the effects of his injury, was scoreless in the second half, missing all 8 of his shots.
Forward Angelo Reyes, bothered by a sore elbow, was held to 5 points in 14 minutes. Forward Sylbrin Robinson, who was so sick he probably should not have played at all, gave it all he had and scored 1 point and grabbed 7 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Jacksonville, meanwhile, was relentless. The Jam were plus-2 on the boards in the second half and plus-7 on turnovers.
Donald Harris, who led the Jam with 22 points, finally put his team on top when he hit two free throws with 54.8 seconds left.
It was the Jam's first lead of the game.
And their last.
Tropics star forward Terence Shelman, who has also been sick the past week, scored on a layup off an in-bounds pass from Pachi Cruz with 36 seconds left.
It turned out to be the winning basket, but there was plenty more drama remaining.
The Jam came back down looking for the go-ahead basket. But Tropics guard Ray Rose, the team's defensive menace, came up with a huge steal and was fouled with 25.2 seconds left. Unfortunately for Miami, Rose missed both free throws.
That's when Rosario bailed him out, drawing the charge in the lane with 12.6 seconds left.
"I knew they were going to drive to the basket out of control," Rosario said of the play.
Cruz then converted two free throws to give the Tropics a three-point lead with 3.9 seconds left. Cruz also provided the hand-in-your-face defense on Jacksonville's TheAnthony Haymon, who missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.
Visit www.miamitropicslive.com for more Trop[ics action.
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