By LEE HILLER, Journal Sports
The Shreveport Mavericks had an early morning wake-up call today on their way to Albany, New York for the rest of The Basketball League Championship Series, one they lead 1-0 after a 123-115 defeat of the Albany Patroons Saturday night at Centenary’s Gold Dome.
The Mavericks left Shreveport at 4:30 a.m. on their way to Dallas, where they will board a plane for New York. Shreveport and Albany will play Game 2 Wednesday night at 6 p.m. (CST) at the Washington Avenue Armory and Game 3, if necessary, at the same venue in New York. A win in either game would mean a fifth national Pro Basketball Championship for the Mavericks and possession of the “Lillie,” the trophy awarded the TBL champion.
Saturday night in the series opener at the Gold Dome, the Mavericks used a 9-0 run with a little more than eight minutes left in the game to break a 96-96 tie and never trailed afterward. Another 8-0 run gave Shreveport its biggest lead of the night (118-100) with 3:30 to go.
The Mavericks hit 61 percent (17-of-28) from beyond the arc; Paul Parks led the way with seven makes that led to a game-high 33 points. Tyrone Jordan hit four and was not far behind Parks with 28 points. Paul Harrison added 16 points, Tavin Cummings 11 and PJ Meyers and Alani Moore each scored 10.
The game went back and forth with 16 lead changes and seven ties. Albany’s biggest lead of 11 came in the early going at 24-13. Shreveport battled back from that deficit to trail by just 29-28 on a Parks three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left in the first quarter, but a Trevis Wyche three at the buzzer gave the Patroons a 32-28 lead.
Shreveport tied the game at 34-34 on a Harrison jumper and took its first lead of the game on two Jordan free throws. It was close the entire second quarter and tied 55-55 with a little more than a minute left in the first half when the Mavericks outscored the Patroons 7-2 to go into halftime with a 62-57 advantage.
The Mavericks built as big as an 11-point lead late in the third quarter and led, 89-82, entering the fourth period. Parks had nine and Jordan seven points to lead the charge.
The Patroons climbed back into the game and took their last lead, 93-92, on a Wyche driving layup. Buckets from Cummings and Harrison put the Mavericks up 96-93 when Albany’s Kameron Williams was fouled attempting a three-pointer. His free throws with a little more than eight minutes left tied the game one last time at 96-96 before Shreveport pulled away.
Albany was led in scoring by Anthony Moe with 24 points. Jared Sam had 19, Kameron Williams and Devon Dillard both tallied 18, and A.J. Mosby 14.
Contact Lee at Lee.Hiller51@gmail.com
Photo by LEE HILLER