The Steel City Yellow Jackets went on the road last night to take on the Richmond Elite in the second game of the weekend. However, they were not as lucky as their first game as they fell to the Elite 118-98 dropping their season record to 7-6.
The Steel City Yellow Jackets played the second half of a weekend double header last night when they traveled down to Richmond, Virginia to take on the Richmond Elite. The Yellow Jackets would play solid basketball throughout, but fell just short in the end as the Elite were able to grab the victory by the score of 118-98 dropping the Yellow Jackets to 7-6 on the season.
The Yellow Jackets had an ok road record coming into the game as they sat at 2-2 on the season and were trying to improve upon that in this one. In Friday's contest, the Yellow Jackets would have a slow start and had to work to get back in the game and pick-up the victory. This game, however, was the exact opposite effect. The Yellow Jackets came out firing on all cylinders early in this one, lead by the red hot veteran Antonio Reddic who scored 14 points in the first quarter alone.
The Yellow Jackets would use this rallying point to mount an early 32-25 lead. To go along with Reddic's efforts, the Yellow Jackets would hit three big three point shots by Gil Cummings, Johnathan Logan, and Dre Anthony to rack up the points early. Logan has been the guy the Yellow Jackets have turned to when they needed a clutch three point shot this season and they went to him again early in this one.
The Richmond Elite would try to fight back in the second quarter, with the help of Anthony Sally's seven point effort that included a big three point shot. They did outscore the Yellow Jackets 26-24, but it was not enough to take the lead as the teams went into the locker room with the Jackets leading by the score of 56-51. One thing the Jackets have been great at this season is having the lead at half time as there are only four games all season in which the Jackets did not lead going into the break.
Antonio Reddic would lead his club in scoring at half time racking up 20 points in the contest and putting himself well on his way to continuing his streak of scoring 30 or more points in a game. He was followed by another great effort from Dre Anthony, who had 14 points on the night, and a tie between Juan Franklin and Gil Cummings for the third leading scorer with seven points each. For the Elite, Anthony Wynn led the half time score sheet scoring 15 points followed by Jaleel Nelson, 13 points, and Anthony Sally, seven points.
In the second half, both teams would come out hot as the Elite were trying to come back in this game and the Yellow Jackets were trying desperately to hold the lead. Gil Cummings and Dre Anthony would hit three point shots and Reddic would score seven in the quarter, but it was not enough to combat the Elite's 30 point attack that spread out between six different scorers and gave them a one point lead heading into the final quarter of play.
The offensive attack would only get better for the Elite in the fourth quarter as they put up their highest total of the game scoring 37 points . For the Yellow Jackets, it was their worst quarter of play in terms of scoring and even though Cummings hit two more three point shots, the Jackets could only muster 18 points in the quarter en route to falling to the Elite by the final score of 118-98. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 7-6 on the season and they fall to under a .500 winning percentage on the road, dropping to 2-3.
Reddic finished the day as the leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets with his 32 point effort, and increased his 30 points or more in a game streak to six. He was followed by Dre Anthony, 19 points, and Gil Cummings, 17 points, to round out the top three scorers. These were the only three Yellow Jackets to score in double digits on the day. For the Elite, it was Jaleel Nelson who would rule the day scoring 26 points. He was followed by Anthony Wynn's 23 point effort and Bernard Alston's 19 point effort.
Steel City Player of the Game: Antonio Reddic
Antonio Reddic has been absolutely red hot for the Yellow Jackets in recent weeks. With his 32 points in this game he has now scored 30 or more points in each of the Yellow Jacket's last six contests dating all the way back to December 17th against the Fredericksburg Grizzlies when he tied his season high scoring 38 points. Reddic has been one of the MVPs of this year's team so far and he will look to continue his success going into the last month and a half of the 2016/2017 regular season.
Up Next:
The Yellow Jackets will continue their slate of road games next Saturday, January 21st when they take on the Prince George's Valor. The next time the Yellow Jackets are scheduled to be at home is on February 3rd when they take on the Buffalo Blue Hawks. However, with their games on the 28th and 29th being moved up in the season, there is a possibility of home games on both of those dates. There are still plenty of opportunities left to see the Yellow Jackets in action so, if you haven't already, be sure to come on out and catch the buzz.
No comments:
Post a Comment