Tacoma Tide Hold Off Bellingham Slam 145-138 - IBL

TACOMA – The Bellingham Slam overcame a 28-point first half deficit and scored the last 12 points of the fourth quarter to force overtime, but fell to the Tacoma Tide, 145-138, in International Basketball League action at Stadium High School on Thursday.
The Slam looked every part of a team that hadn’t played in nearly two weeks, as Tacoma raced out to a 26-12 lead after the first eight minutes and led 32-23 at the end of the first quarter.
Bellingham continued to look sluggish well into the second quarter, as the Tide were able to max out their advantage at 28, at 66-38, midway through the period.  The Slam finally woke up for the quarter’s final three minutes, and were able to trim the margin to 17, at 73-56, after Ryan Diggs hit a deep three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
A different Slam team came out for the second half, as they outscored the Tide 40-18 in the third quarter.  Diggs accounted for 20 of Bellingham’s points in the third, and his fourth three-pointer of the frame with 30 seconds left gave the Slam a 96-91 lead.
But Tacoma wasn’t ready to go away quietly and erased Bellingham’s lead within the fourth quarter’s first 90 seconds.  The Tide went on to take a 12-point lead, at 125-113, with two minutes left before the Slam played perfect defense and scored 12 straight points to knot the game at 125-all.  A trey by Jacob Stevenson with 34 seconds left got the Tide’s lead down to one, then Diggs connected on one of two free throws with seven seconds left to tie up the game.  The Slam even had a chance to win the game, as Diggs was able to get his own rebound on his missed free throw.  As time expired, Diggs drew contact on a shot attempt and the officials appeared to call a foul but after a short conference reversed their call and sent the game to overtime.
Bellingham was unable to continue their run in the overtime session, as Tacoma scored six of the first eight points and never looked back.  A Paul Hafford three-pointer with 1:04 left got the Slam within three, at 137-134, but the Tide were perfect from the foul line the rest of the way to preserve the victory.
The Slam were led by Diggs, who finished with 34 points and ten assists.  Lukas Henne was also a dominant presence as he tallied 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
The game also saw the return of Brian Dennis to Bellingham’s roster, who was re-signed Thursday to replace the injured Steve Newman.
Tacoma was led by Lorenzo Rollins and Justin Murray, who scored 33 and 31 points, respectively.
The loss virtually eliminates the possibility of the Slam earning the top seed for the IBL playoffs next week, but the team is still poised to earn a first-round bye with at least one victory in its next two games.
The Slam continue their road trip Saturday as they travel to Portland to take on the Oregon Waves, then return to Bellingham on Sunday to battle the Edmonton Energy in their regular season finale.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at Whatcom Pavilion.
For more information, contact the Slam at (360) 734-SLAM or visit their website at www.bellinghamslam.com.

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