Jackets Come Up Big With Rivalry Gane Win

The Steel City Yellow Jackets played some hard nose basketball and came out victorious as they defeated their rivals, the Baltimore Hawks, by the score of 128-119. The victory propelled the Jackets to 7-5 on the season as they head on the road today.

Pittsburgh and Baltimore are two cities that genuinely hate each other in the sporting world. Whether it was the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles battling in the 70's for the world series or the classic rough and tough battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL today, neither city likes to see the other one across from them.

This classic Pittsburgh versus Baltimore rivalry would continue last night when the Steel City Yellow Jackets took on the number 21 team in the country in the Baltimore Hawks. It was the Yellow Jackets black out game and a capacity crowd filled the Neighborhood Academy to watch this classic rivalry.

The Yellow Jackets made some key mistakes early on in this matchup and it would allow the Hawks to jump out to an early 18-9 lead just give minutes into the contest. The Yellow Jackets would continue to fight back however and caused big turnovers to put them right back in it. After one quarter of play, with the score sat at 37-30.

The Yellow Jackets scoring was widely spread out in the first quarter as eight different Yellow Jackets got on the board. Gilmore Cummings led the bunch scoring six points in the first quarter of play. The chirpiness was already starting in this one and wasn't about to quiet down a bit.

The second quarter would belong to the Yellow Jackets as they took control of the scoreboard putting up 38 points to the Hawks 23. Good defense and rebounding by Lawrence Baker helped the Yellow Jackets to secure the ball and Dre Anthony made the most of his offensive opportunities scoring 14 points in the second quarter alone. Baltimore was baffled in the quarter as they had a lot of bad shots and a lot of turnovers. Nardi Bogues was the only one who seemed to be clicking as he scored seven points in the quarter.

The Jackets would go into half time with the lead once again as it was 67-60. Dre Anthony would lead the team in scoring at the half with 14 points on the night. He was followed closely by Lawrence Baker, 11 points, and Antonio Reddic, 10 points. For the Hawks, it would be Dishawn Bradshaw leading the way with 17 points followed by Bogues, 13 points, and Ding Santos, nine points.

The Yellow Jackets were in full control of this game with no signs of stopping before half time. However, when they came out to start the third quarter, some of the mistakes that had haunted them early on came back to bite them as the Hawks fought to get back in this game. As the quarter went on the Jackets would clean up their mistakes and the Hawks would start making mistakes of their own as both teams scored 27 points in the quarter. Reddic had the hot hand in the quarter as he was able to put up eight for the Yellow Jackets.

The crowd was into this one as they rocked the Neighborhood Academy setting up for one of the most exciting finishes all season. As holds true in many of these Pittsburgh/Baltimore matchups, things started to get heated towards the end of the game. There was a lot of trash talking among the teams, but the peace was kept and the game was managed very well between Coach Ace and Coach Brown for Baltimore.

With less than four minutes left in the game, the Yellow Jackets had a ten point lead sitting at 117-107 and the Hawks tried everything to come back. They fouled the Yellow Jackets three times over the last minute of play but they could not get anything going as they would ultimately fall in this one by the score of 128-119.

The Yellow Jacket were once again lead by veteran Antonio Reddic who scored 30 points on the night increasing his streak to five straight games now in which he has scored 30 or more points. Dre Anthony also had a strong showing in his first home contest with the Yellow Jackets as he put up 23 points in the night, followed by Lawrence Baker's 17 point effort. For the Hawks it was Nardi Bogues who would lead the way with a game high 32 points on the night. He was followed by Dishawn Bradshaw's 27 point effort in the game.

The win moves the Yellow Jackets to 7-5 on the season as they head out in the road today to face the Richmond Elite. The Yellow Jackets were the number 25 team in the country coming into the game and are looking to move up after beating the number 21 team in the country.

Steel City Yellow Jackets Player of the Game: Dre Anthony

In his first home game as a Yellow Jacket, Dre Anthony came up big with 23 points on the night and it was enough to secure him the Yellow Jackets Player of the Game award. Anthony recently joined the Yellow Jackets and is looking to make an immediate impact as they make a run for a third straight playoff apperance.

Up Next:

The Steel City Yellow Jackets are back in action today when they take on the Richmond Elite on the road. The next time the Yellow Jackets are scheduled to play at home is on February 3rd when they take on the Buffalo Blue Hawks. There are only a few remaining home games left, so if you haven't already come on out and catch the buzz.