The Steel City Yellow Jackets went on the road last night to face off against the Prince George's Valor in American Basketball Association action. The Yellow Jackets could not catch a break, however, as they would fall by the final score of 114-107 dropping their record to 7-7 on the year.
The Steel City Yellow Jackets continued their battle through the 2016/2017 regular season as they traveled down to Prince George's County Maryland to face the Prince George's Valor. The Yellow Jackets fought hard in this game but unfortunately were unable to catch a break on the night as they dropped the game by the final score of 114-107 moving their record to 7-7 on the season.
The last time these two teams faced off, it was a highly contested ball game at the Neighborhood Academy where the Valor would come out on top by the final score of 95-93. The Valor would get off to a hot start in that game and the Yellow Jackets defense would stiffen up to allow their team back into this one. In the end, however, it would not be enough as the Yellow Jackets would drop the contest and take their third loss of the year.
This game would start in the exact opposite way as the Yellow Jackets had the momentum early on in this one and midway through the second quarter of play they would be up by the score of 35-33. Road games have not been kind to the Yellow Jackets this season as coming into this one their road record sat at just 2-2 so far on the year.
The Yellow Jackets would keep fighting offensively and held on to the lead with just under two minutes in the second quarter as they lead 58-52. The Yellow Jackets would add another bucket before time expired and would go into the locker room up 60-52 over the Valor. Building up half time leads is something that Coach Ace and the Steel City Yellow Jackets have done a tremendous job of all season long. Of the Yellow Jackets 14 games this season, they have only trailed at half time in four of those games.
The Yellow Jackets played some great defense on the day limiting the Valor to under 30 points in each of the first two quarters of play. While the Yellow Jackets offense has been great all season long, lead by Antonio Reddic and Gil Cummings, the Yellow Jackets defense cannot be forgotten here in 2016/2017. Lawrence Baker has lead the crew as the big man under the net with a team high 52 rebounds on the season. He has been helped out by great defensive play from guys like Isaiah Prince and Antonio Reddic who play very sound defense to help the Jackets stay in ball games.
The third quarter started out with a surge by the Valor as they were looking to fight back into this contest with the Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets defense continued their string of holding the Valor under 30 points in a quarter, however, the offense couldn't get anything going as they were outscored 27-19 to make the score tied at 79-79 with one quarter to play.
Then, the fourth quarter got ugly for the Yellow Jackets. The Valor continued their offensive surge and would go up 90-85 with just over eight minutes to play in regulation. Offense would end up ruling the fourth quarter and, thanks to an offensive surge, the Valor ended up scoring 34 points to the Yellow Jackets 28 to secure themselves the 114-107 victory. The loss dropped the Yellow Jackets road record to 2-3 on the year and their overall record to 7-7.
Things got ugly late in this one for the Yellow Jackets as there were a couple of questionable calls that put the Yellow Jackets down late in the fourth quarter. Yellow Jackets head coach Ace Pippens collected the first two technical fouls of his career and Isaiah Prince also got tagged for a technical foul late in the fourth. To add to the loss on the scoreboard and the questionable calls throughout the night, the Yellow Jackets also may have lost one of their star players for a while as Isaiah Prince suffered a serious eye injury late in the game.
Up Next:
The Steel City Yellow Jackets return to the friendly confines of the Neighborhood Academy on January 28th when they take on the Imperial National Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets have played some of their best basketball on their home court as they own a record of 5-4 at home and look to improve upon that once again. Tickets for the event are ten dollars for adults and five dollars for student tickets. The Yellow Jackets need your support as the season comes to a close, so be sure to come on out and Catch the Buzz.
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