Yakama holds off Pittsburgh to keep unbeaten record
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YAKIMA, WA (November 30, 2007) - Yakama's Sun Kings knew things wouldn't continue to come as easily for them as it had in the first seven games of this young CBA season. But when that first challenge came, Yakama was more than ready to respond.
Going toe-to-toe with the Pittsburgh Xplosion throughout the fourth quarter, the Sun Kings, behind Jason Sasser and Moochie Norris, finally nosed ahead just enough to keep their perfect record intact.
Sasser and Norris both scored 10 points in the final period as Yakama squeezed out a 118-114 victory before 3,345 noisy SunDome fans.
"I'm proud of all these guys in here," said Norris, who finished with 12 points and five assists. "I've been in situations where the other team takes a win from you. But even when things got bad (tonight), these guys didn't give up. They kept fighting.
"In the fourth, we just kept making plays and doing whatever it took to win."
In the end, Yakama managed to move to 8-0 with the 6-1 quarter points victory.
"These guys came in after the game and collectively were angry that they played the way they did," Yakama coach Paul Woolpert said. "But I told them, they have to be somewhat pleased that they played the way they did and still got a 6-1 win."
Yakama built and held a double-digit lead from the early stages of the game until midway through the third. But Pittsburgh outscored the Sun Kings 18-6 over the final 6:50 of the third to close to within 83-81, setting up the thrilling finish that featured four ties and 10 lead changes.
"I let our guys know (at halftime) that they were capable of competing with Yakama, and once they got that feeling, they played with more confidence," Pittsburgh coach Carlos Knox said. "But my hat's off to Yakama. They're an excellent team."
One of the decisive moves in the period came about three minutes in, when Woolpert sent point guard Jason Forte back into the game to play alongside the veteran point guard Norris.
With Forte the primary point, Norris was free to move off the ball and it also created more one-on-one situations for Sasser in the lane.
The result was all 20 points in the period from the two vets, along with a bounce-pass assist from Sasser to Desmond Ferguson for a textbook backdoor play that gave the Sun Kings a 112-104 lead with about two minutes left.
"That (move) gave us another ball-handler on the floor and allowed us to put our best passer (Norris) in the post," Woolpert said, crediting Forte for suggesting the move.
"That was an excellent adjustment," Knox said. "You can't go wrong with those two (Norris and Forte) on the floor at the same time."
Norris and Sasser both had four points, and Sasser added his assist in a 12-2 surge that seemingly put Yakama in control.
Pittsburgh still wasn't done, though, and ripped off six straight points to get back within two points.
Jermaine Blackburn nailed a baseline jumper with 1:02 to play, and, after Pittsburgh hit 1 of 2 free throws, Norris hit a layup for a 116-111 lead with 34 seconds left.
After a Pittsburgh basket, Blackburn hit two free throws with 16 seconds left to effectively seal the victory, but it took a last-second block of Carl Krauser's shot under the basket to preserve the quarter point.
Sasser finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Harvey Thomas had a career-best 23 points.
Pittsburgh's Antonio Graves scored 10 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth, and Krauser added 12 of his 16 in the final 12 minutes.