Texas defeats Beijing 126-114, advances to ABA Championship Game

Published on March 25, 2007 under American Basketball Association (ABA)
Texas Tycoons News Release


Dallas, Tx - The Texas Tycoons (25-5) defeat the Beijing Aoshen Olympians (24-9) 126-114 and secure a spot in the 2006-2007 ABA Championship Game. Beijing at Texas in the ABA Final Four was played out in front of a capacity crowd at Dallas's Mountain View College Saturday night and this game was truely worth the price of admission. The first quarter had Beijing using their incredible size to get out to the early lead at 34-25. 6'9 point guard Sun Yue (6'9''-G-85) was working hard in the post against the speedy 5'11 Jerome Rogers (5'10''-G-81, college: N.Texas ) on several occassions in the first quarter but Texas refused to double and Rogers used his quickness to front. Beijing tried repeatedly to clear out the weakside and go over the top but Texas's Jai Pradia (6'6''-F-79, agency: ND Corner Sports, college: Pittsburg St. ) had two blocks in a row on one possession and the pressure on the ball made making the play difficult for the wing. Stretching out the weakside for Beijing was Vinson Fred (6'4''-G-71, college: Georgia Tech ) and the former Supersonics guard was lighting it up from beyond the arc and helped stake Beijing to the early lead. Also contributing to the good start for Beijing was the great play of G/F Toby Bailey (6'5''-G/F-75, college: UCLA ) but Texas continued to apply more pressure and each dribble and pass was being contested from baseline to baseline. The high flying pace of the game was beginning to show it's affects on Beijing and the momentum had swung towards Texas in a 4 minute burst in the second quarter where Beijing was having trouble getting into their offense and the swarming Tycoons were forcing turnovers and late shots in the possession and then getting out in transition. Vinson Fred was keeping Beijing in the game with his shooting but Texas was dictating the pace and this alley fight had both teams sticking out their chests at the half, Beijing still ahead by four at 72-68.

Going into the second half, Texas had rotated 11 players into the rotation and had just kept coming in waves at their opponent while Beijing showed 8 players deep, with their stars logging big minutes. Texas's 38 point outburst in the second quarter continued as Texas outscored Beijing 33-24 in the third and 30-23 in the fourth to pull away for the victory, Texas-126 Beijing-114.

Brandon Lee (6'3''-G, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Tarleton St. ) hit on 8 of 9 from three en route to a 28 point performance and was the high man in scoring for Texas on the night. Jerome Rogers was 5-8 from deep and 8-14 from the floor for his 24 and Texas All-Star Donnie Beacham (6'5''-F-81, agency: ND Corner Sports, college: Texas Arlington) had 19 points and 18 rebounds. Benny West (6'3''-G-82, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Howard Payne ) also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Randall Williams (6'8''-C-82, college: Tarleton St.) and Tyrone Rayson (6'6''-F-80, college: East Central ) finished in double figures for the Tycoons, conecting on 11 and 10 respectively but it was the defensive intensity of Rayson that got Texas to turn it up one more notch when it counted. Tycoons Coach Terrell said "Tyrone's effort has made a difference in our locker room, on our practice court, and in this game tonight. He is chest to chest with Bailey for 94 feet and the guys get a double technical and it was a good call, they were both starting to get really serious, but that was just Tyrone's way of saying he wants it more and our team really responded to it and that was when we started to make some runs. Beijing is extremely talented and they've got tremendous experience with some star players that have played in the league but their size is what really amazes. 6 of the 8 players in their active rotation are 6'9 or bigger and their size is at all 5 spots including the PG but our quickness really gave them problems and so did the pace we forced the game to be played at. A former coach gave me a great scouting report on some things where we felt we had an advantage and alot of our game focus centered on those things, mostly just creating space to utilize our quickness and athleticism. They could try and keep us out of the lane as a team but were going to give up some shots from the perimeter in the process and as a team we played baseline to baseline for 48 minutes and that would wear on most teams. At the end of the day we still need to get one more win, we'll enjoy this tonight but Monday we'll get back to work and prepare for the final." For the game Texas connected on 43 of 84 from the field and 15 of 27 from 3 and 25 of 34 from the line for 126 points.

Texas with the win advances to the 06/07 ABA Championship Game. Vermont, #1 in the final ABA power rankings, will host the winner of Mississippi-Wilmington on Tuesday night March 27th and with the win in the semi would host Texas in the ABA Championship Game. Should Vermont not win their semifinal, Texas, #3 in the final ABA power rankings, would host the ABA finals. Tune in on Tuesday to learn who will join Texas in the 2006-2007 ABA Championship game. www.abalive.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.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Basketball Association Stories from March 25, 2007


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.

OurSports Central