JOURNAL SPORTS
LITTLE ROCK – The depth of the Shreveport Mavericks came into full view Sunday afternoon as Josh Montgomery scored 19 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help lead Shreveport past Little Rock 115-102 in The Basketball League semi-pro action.
Shreveport led during each of the first three quarters but trailed at the end of each quarter 29-26, 59-53 and 83-82 . It built a nine-point lead (50-41) in the second quarter only to see the Lightning outscore the Mavericks 18-3 in the final three minutes to take a 59-53 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The third quarter had both teams go on scoring runs. The Mavericks started the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 62-61 lead. The Lightning went on a run of their own to take their biggest lead of the second half, 76-65. Shreveport came back to trail by just one, 83-82, entering the final period.
Shreveport’s defense stepped up in the final quarter keeping Little Rock from any runs and holding the Lightning to 19 points, outscoring them by 14.
Playing without injured shooting guard Tyrone Jordan, Montgomery stepped up to lead the team with his 29 points. Paul Parks, the club’s top scorer on the season, poured in 25, Kadavion Evans 23, PJ Meyers tossed in 14 and Jay Hedgeman 12. Parks and Evans led the Mavericks in rebounds with 10 apiece for double-doubles.
Quwan Marshall led Little Rock with 24 points.
The win runs Shreveport’s record to 11-2 on the season and comes two days after a 152-114 win over Rockwall that was head coach Steve Tucker’s 500th as a professional coach. Parks scored 34 in the win that had eight Mavericks score in double digits.
