Slam Rallies to Win Over Pit Bulls
February 22, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Bellingham Slam News Release
Bellingham, WA - The Bellingham Slam played one of their best games of the season, despite missing their leading scorer, as they defeated the Florida Pit Bulls, 99-98, in an American Basketball Association contest at Whatcom Pavilion on Tuesday night.
A raucous crowd of 735 saw Florida's Andre Smith miss a fading three point shot at the buzzer to preserve the Slam's first win against the Pit Bulls this season. It was the Slam's first one-point victory of the season.
Florida, perhaps having made some adjustments following their sluggish start on Sunday night, came out on fire the start Tuesday's game and closed the quarter with a 13-4 run to build a 31-18 lead.
The second quarter saw the Slam battle back, outscoring the Pit Bulls 34-22, thanks in part to Mike Parker's ten points in the quarter. A Brandon Hartley three-pointer with 1:26 left in the half gave the Slam its first lead, but a jumper by Terrance Shelman on Florida's final possession restored Florida's slim lead at 53-52.
Defense was the name of the game in the third quarter, as both teams combined for only 36 points. The two teams were tied at 62-62 with 5:33 to go in the quarter, but the Pit Bulls went on a 11-6 run the rest of the period to establish a five-point lead going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter of Tuesday's Slam game will easily go down as the most exciting this season. The Slam found themselves down seven following a Darren Randall putback to start the quarter, but whittled away at the deficit and eventually took a two-point lead on a Kevin Woodberry putback with five minutes remaining. The Slam even built up their lead to seven on a three-pointer and a two-pointer by Hartley on consecutive possessions before Tim Hardaway came to life and drained three three-pointers sandwiched between a Slam turnover and a Brian Dennis putback to tie the game at 94-94 with two minutes to go. Hartley responded with a three-pointer of his own on the Slam's next trip down the court to restore a three-point lead, but Florida scored a dunk and a putback on the next two possessions to give the Pit Bulls a 98-97 lead with 20 seconds to play. In perhaps his biggest play as a Slam player, Brian Dennis corralled a missed runner by Jacob Stevenson and put it back to give the Slam a one-point lead with seven seconds left to play. The Slam smartly used fouls to give to work the clock down to two seconds, before Smith missed the game winner from beyond the arc in the corner. In all, there were 14 lead changes in the game.
The Slam were led in scoring by Mike Parker with 23 points, and followed closely by Brandon Hartley with 17. Hardaway, coming off a monstrous game on Sunday, scored 23 points for the Pit Bulls.
The Slam now head on the road for a pair of games in Southern California this weekend before returning for the regular season finale against the Fresno Heatwave on Friday, March 3.
For more information, call the Slam at 734-SLAM or visit their website at www.bellinghamslam.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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