Strong Island Commits \'Murder'

Published on December 24, 2006 under American Basketball Association (ABA)
Strong Island Sound News Release


Selden, NY- In only his second game back with the Sound, Shawn "Murder" Simpson came off the bench and promptly delivered 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals to help Strong Island defeat the Quebec City Kebekwa at Suffolk Community College on Saturday night, 98-83.

Greg Plummer was the game high scorer for the second consecutive evening with 25 points. He shot 50 percent from downtown and was perfect on all four of his free throws.

Plummer was one of the reasons why Strong Island controlled the tempo of the game from the beginning, and led 25-18 after one quarter of play.

In the second, the Sound went on a 9-0 run and to make it 38-24 at the 6:20 mark. The Keb's were playing like a totally different team from their last meeting, which ended in Quebec's favor only eight days ago. Play on both ends was sloppy for the remainder of the second quarter as the scoreboard did not change in the final two minutes. Quebec turned the ball over five times as much as Strong Island did and the Sound were in control and leading 45-31.

Plummer was launching bombs from above the arc, and even the 'big man' Darren 'DP' Phillip got into the show with a three-point field goal. Simpson started to excel with two of his three blocked shots in the third quarter. The lead grew to 20 when Noah Coughlin fed Simpson down low on a pretty pass for a bucket.

The Kebs then started pressing on defense in the back court and went on a 7-0 run to make the score 68-55. Following a three-pointer by Dominique Soucy (19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), Sound head coach Dytanya Mixson called a time out.

""We had our moments where we got a little crazy," said Mixson after the game. "We knew they were going to pressure us." Making adjustments, the Sound expected the Kebs to crowd them and found the open man to move the ball in to the front court. A big swing in the quarter occurred when the Kebs missed two three-point shots with the 3-D light on and John "Mookie" Thomas (18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) was able to grab the second rebound. The quarter ended with Strong Island ahead by a score of 71-58.

Quebec was able to close the gap to 73-63 within the first two minutes of the fourth and final quarter. But Simpson was the catalyst with a conventional three-point play and a tip in on a miss by Plummer.

As Quebec continued their full-court press, the Sound was able to kick it out to someone open and create scoring opportunities. Thomas hit a three and Simpson went strong to the hole with the 3-D Rule in effect and the lead once again swelled to 20 for the Sound.

Even an 8-0 run by the Kebs was too little, too late. Strong Island made their free throws when sent to the line and came away with a 98-83 win to raise their record to 10-6. Quebec City fell to 7-4.

"In January, we only have one home game (January 6th against Vermont) and will be road tested," stated Mixson following the game. "After January, we'll know where we're at."

The Sound will play seven road games next month, including January 19th against the Kebekwa in Quebec City.

In their next game, the Strong Island Sound will face the Ballerz for the first time on January 4th in Richmond. The game can be heard live on the internet at www.strongislandsound.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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American Basketball Association Stories from December 24, 2006


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