One Unity comeback topples Jam Squad for ABA crown - Aug 10, 2009 ST. THOMAS - Move over Jam Squad, there is a new king in town. The three-time defending ABA champs were knocked off by One Unity, 90-76, on Friday and lost the best-of-five championship series 3-1. 'It's a big, big, emotional win for us,' One Unity head coach Orville Colbourne said after the game. 'We fought a tough team tonight in Jam Squad, but it's a unity thing, total team effort, and nothing could stop us.' Eight-time champion Jam Squad came into the game with only two players on the bench and the memories of a 41-point beatdown in Game 3 on Wednesday. After a tough-fought first half, the defending champs saw fatigue set in as One Unity was able to take the lead in the third and blow the game open in the fourth. One Unity's Khalid Gerard was named the series MVP after averaging 19.8 points per game. He had nine points and four rebounds on Friday. Jabahri Brown (209-F/C-79, college: Oklahoma) was the big story of the night though, as the One Unity big man put up a game-high 24 points and 19 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks and steals. The veteran Jam Squad, looking to bounce back from their Game 3 loss, just like they did in Game 2, came out firing on all cylinders in the first half. After the first quarter ended tied at 21, Jam Squad opened up a 45-39 lead at the half. Jam Squad's Ryan Mills (186-G) put on a show from 3-point range early on, hitting three in the second to give him 17 first-half points. Midway through the second Mills started a 10-0 Jam Squad run with back-to-back 3-point shots from the corner after great outlet passes from Akil Lewis (183-G-82, college: Lynn). Mills finished with a team-high 21 points. Lewis had 20 points and six rebounds. Mills' last 3-pointer, with just under four minutes to play in the half, gave Jam Squad their biggest lead of the night, 42-29. One Unity then bounced back with big low post play by Brown and Wayne Rawlins and went on a 10-3 run to end the half. Early on in the third quarter the tide started to change as One Unity went on a 9-0 run, that featured five points from Gerard, and took their first lead since the opening minute. The two squads exchanged the lead a couple more times before the third ended with One Unity up by a slim 62-61 margin. In the fourth the One Unity defense, led by Brown, took over. Jam Squad managed just one field goal over the first six minutes - which came 30 seconds into the quarter. One Unity outscored the tiring squad 19-1 after that field goal and opened up a big 82-67 lead with just under four minutes to play. The two teams exchanged free throws down the stretch, but all was said and done as the packed house at BCB gym erupted when the final seconds ran down. One Unity's Jamari Maduro added 19 points and Rasheem Richards (191-G, college: Brescia (KY)) had 10 points to go with eight boards and five assists. Jam Squad's Calvert White (191-G/F-75, college: SE Missouri St.) had 17 points and eight rebounds. By CHRIS WALSH ABA All-Star festivities excite: East edges West in OT (Jul.20, 2009) ST. THOMAS - The ABA men's summer basketball league was full of high-flying slam dunks and raining 3-pointers as some of the best basketball players in the territory graced the courts at Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School gym. There were plenty of awards handed out between competitions, both for the regular season and Tuesday's events. The big event of the night though was the All-Star game between the ABA's East and West squads. In a game that will go down in the record books and memory banks, the East All-Stars won in a grueling overtime game that went down to literally the last second, 115-113. Ramon Castillo earned the game's Most Outstanding Player award, even though he was on the losing East team. He had a game-high 34 points to go with seven assists, four steals and a pair of rebounds. Castillo was making it rain from behind the arc all night, but his best shots came with the game winding down. The West began the game out-running and out-gunning the East squad, taking a 22-11 lead after the first quarter. Jervan Jackson had 10 points in the quarter and finished the game with a team-high 26 points to go with 12 rebounds and three assists. Through the next two quarters both offenses erupted, scoring a combined 117 points in the second and third. The East outscored the West 30-29 in the second, then cut the lead even more with a 32-26 third quarter that brought the game to 77-73 heading into the fourth. In the final quarter, the West pulled away and thanks to big shots by Jackson and Tiba Francis, the West held a nine-point lead with 1:30 to play. Then Castillo took the game into his own hands. Castillo drained back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the game within three, then drew an offensive foul to get the East the ball back with 31 seconds remaining. He then received the inbound pass, ran up to the top of the key, and drained the game-tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go. In the overtime, the West held leads of three and four points, but the East tied the game each time. Then with 5.1 seconds to go Jamari Maduro hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 115-112 game. The West hit 6-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch. After a timeout, the East inbounded the pass to none other than Castillo, who threw up a prayer of a 3-pointer in traffic, which would draw a buzzer-beating foul call and put him on the line with no time left on the clock. As the crowd and both teams stood, going crazy with cheers and jeers, Castillo hit the first of three tries. Then his second shot bounced off the back of the rim and the game was over. Six of seven players scored double figures in points for the West, and four had double-doubles. Maduro had 20 points and 13 boards, Francis had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Jevon James (196-F) had 13 points to go with 13 rebounds. Shamal Caines and Zack Coffelt (183-G) contributed 17 points and 15 points respectively. For the East, Nashon Jeffers had 30 points and Fitzroy Dunrod put together a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Shoquan Stevens (198-F-90) chipped in 14 points and eight boards in the losing effort. The night began with East teammates Fitzroy Dunrod and Kashawn Benjamin combining to win the 3-point shoot-out. The Dunrod-Benjamin duo won as Dunrod hit a last-second shot to edge out the team of Dwane Holland and Shaquan Stevens. 'This is my fourth year in the league and my first win,' Dunrod said. 'I've been working on my 3-point shooting all season so it feels good to win.' In the slam dunk contest, Jevon James, a late entry into the contest, soared higher and scored more than his opponents en route to a big win. James' early dunks, which included a 360 and a dunk with a ball in each hand, helped him cruise past Shoquan Stevens and favorite Jervan Jackson. 'I wasn't even going to be in it. But I saw there was just two guys, so I went in to enjoy it,' James said. 'I thought Jervan would win it, but maybe the judges just liked me.' Jackson brought the contest's lone 30-point dunk when he leaped over Ramon Castillo and grabbed a bounce pass for a two-handed dunk. Regular season awards were also handed out at halftime of the All-Star game. Rasheem Richards (191-G, college: Brescia (KY)) won the regular season MVP, One Unity won the regular season championship and Jahawa Joseph won the biggest trophy, the Sportsmanship Award. BY CHRIS WALSH |
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