Maryland Nighthawks have Ming and a Tall Win 112-102 Over Strong Island Sound - ABA

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Selden , NY- There was a buzz around Suffolk Community College on Saturday evening. 1,000 fans packed the Brookhaven Gymnasium in anticipation of seeing the appearance of the tallest player in professional basketball history. 7’9” center Sun Ming Ming of the Maryland Nighthawks came to play, and saw his most extensive action of the season. But the crowd also saw an entertaining contest that ended with a comeback 112-102 victory by Maryland over the host Strong Island Sound.

As the 6’8” Raheim Lowery set up for the opening tip against Ming, he appeared to be standing in a hole. Maryland controlled the tip, but Lowery quickly stole the ball from Ming, which led to a three-pointer by Chris Grant. Ming, who saw over 22 minutes of action, missed his first field goal attempt, grabbed his own rebound and then committed a traveling violation. The center later made a pretty behind the back pass to guard Frank McQueen (16 points, 4 rebounds), who missed the lay-up attempt. Ming checked out of the game with 5:20 left in the first quarter, and the Sound began heating up with a three-point basket by Sean Dantzler (19 points, 4 rebounds) and an alley-oop slam by Miguel ‘Slim’ Milliem, who had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block off the bench. Strong Island led 25-18 after one quarter of play.

The Sound led 26-21 with 10:17 left in the second quarter when Ming re-entered the game. He quickly blocked a shot by Lowery, but Sound head coach Dytanya Mixson changed his strategy to an outside game to compensate for the big man in the middle. Greg Plummer and Karim Smith hit two shots each from downtown and the Sound led 40-28 with 6:40 left in the half. Ming scored his only points on the night when he received a pass underneath from 7’ Kevin Robinson (11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) and barely had to move to bank it in. The crowd showed its appreciation for the Asian import with a loud cheer, and then gave him another ovation when he blocked a runner by Raphael Edwards (13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists). The Nighthawks made a run and closed the gap at halftime, 47-40.

Ming was on the floor at the start of the third quarter and attempted a 15-footer that fell short. The Sound extended their lead to 15 when Anton Jennifer, Maryland ’s 5’10” guard out of Bowie State , hit two 30-footers. Ming was also involved in a play against Grant when he committed a foul and struck the Sound guard in the face, opening a gash above Grant’s left eye and keeping him out of the remainder of the game. Ming later was removed and did not see any further minutes.

The Sound led by 11 when Plummer (who had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals) committed a flagrant foul against a driving Jennifer at the 4:33 mark of the third. He was ejected from the game, and losing their offensive leader and All-Star representative seemed to affect the Sound. “That was the turning point in the game,” said Mixson following the loss. “I told the officials that the game was getting dirty.”

Jennifer made the basket and one of two free throws. Three minutes later, Jennifer (21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) committed a hard foul on Dantzler and was ejected, as well. During transition, Arthur Lewis, the diminutive 5’9” Maryland guard, went down hard and remained on the court for a good five minutes before being helped to the bench. He later was removed to a local hospital.

The third quarter ended with an alley-oop floater pass from Brian Woodward (18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) to Milliem for a dunk at the buzzer, giving the Sound an 82-74 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Maryland began chipping away at the Strong Island lead and tied the game at 82 with 8 minutes left on a jumper by Barry Mitchell, who replaced Ming and showed athleticism on both ends with 10 rebounds and 8 points. Maryland quickly took the lead when McQueen hit a circus shot while being fouled by Aaron Williams. He converted the conventional three-point play and the Nighthawks were up 85-82 with 7 minutes left.

The Sound then went on a 10-0 run and led 92-86 with 3:43 remaining in the game. A big turn-around occurred when Warren “Spongebob” Jefferson converted two free-throw attempts and the Nighthawks and then David Bailey made a steal and a 3d basket for a 98-96 nighthawk lead with 1:45 left. williams then committed an offensive foul, which led to a three-point shot by randy “white chocolate” gill, who had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

the sound had their problems from the field and free throw line in the final minute of play and the nighthawks were able to extend their lead when strong island had to keep fouling to stop the clock. maryland was able to put the game out of reach from the charity stripe and left long island with a 10-point win.

when asked if the two-week layoff may have hurt his team, mixson stated, “that could be it. we were off from the field and the line.” mixson further commented, “we gave the game to them in the fourth quarter (outscored 38-20). we put the ball in their hands. they know what they have to do tomorrow.”

“we didn’t take care of the ball in the fourth quarter,” said dantzler. “we got comfortable with the lead and they outworked us.”