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Sound Bounce Express, 109-87, After Loss to Nighthawks

February 25, 2007 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Strong Island Sound News Release


Selden, NY- Following a tough loss the night before, the Strong Island Sound answered the bell after a quick turn-around with a matinee versus the 2-18 Newark Express. Greg Plummer was the game-high scorer with 37 points and led the Sound to a convincing 109-87 win.

"We stuck with the game plan in both halves and didn't get too comfortable with our lead," said Plummer, referring to the previous evening's 112-102 loss to Maryland. "We kept the pressure on today."

At the start of the game, it appeared that the Sound were going to suffer a hangover from the Nighthawk defeat. The Express controlled the momentum in the early going and had a 15-point lead before the Sound cut it to 25-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Plummer came out on fire at the start of the second quarter and led the Sound to an 8-0 run in the first two minutes to give them a 26-25 lead. Raphael Edwards picked up a technical foul and then turned the ball over. He quickly recovered with two big baskets from inside the paint, but was whistled for his second technical foul and an ejection right after making his second shot with the Sound down by one and 4:50 left in the half.

"That seemed to give us a spark," commented Sound head coach Dytanya Mixson following the game. Miguel 'Slim' Milliem followed that with, "We went out there after we lost our main player (Edwards). We stopped talking to the refs and just played our game."

Two minutes later, Aaron Williams stole an inbounds pass and fed to Plummer for a 3D lay-up. Newark missed on the ensuing possession, and Williams then fed Milliem on an alley-oop for a slam, which ignited the crowd. Sean Dantzler (12 points) hit a three-point shot and the Sound were off to the races. Heading into the break, Strong Island led the Express 54-43.

Staying hot from the field, the Sound went on a 7-0 run to begin the third quarter. The lead grew to 26 with five minutes left in the third before Newark went on a 17-5 run to close out the quarter and trailed 79-64.

Another highlight-reel slam by Milliem from Plummer made the score 81-64 at the 10:43 mark. The man nicknamed 'Slim' went up high for a reverse dunk, and had 14 points, 10 blocks and 6 rebounds on the day. Every time the Express cut into the Sound's lead, the home squad answered with a basket and tough defense going the other way. "Our main emphasis was on defense," Milliem said. "Once we did that, we had everything."

"This was a full team effort," said Mixson. "Everyone got good minutes and did what they had to do to get this win."

Aaron Williams had his best game as a member of the Sound with 8 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. "Guards don't normally get boxed out," Williams said. "I just was crashing the boards and the ball bounced my way."

Anthony Williams led the Express with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Devone Stephenson had a double double (10 points and 10 boards) and threw down a few thunderous dunks in a losing effort.

The Sound improved to 16-12 and will host two games next weekend at Suffolk Community College. On Saturday March 3 at 7 p.m., the Buffalo Silverbacks will face the Sound for the first time this season. Then on Sunday March 4, the Quebec City Kebekwa will visit Long Island for a 2 p.m. matinee.

For ticket information, visit www.strongislandsond.com. The games can also be heard on WBZB 98.5 FM with Dave Greenwald and Rob Hahn calling all the action courtside.

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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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.

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