Jam battles for final playoff position
| Friday, Mar 20 2009 02:22 AM
Last Updated Monday, Mar 30 2009 04:25 PM
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The Jam's Derrick Byars, left, shoots the ball over Dakota Wizard Romel Beck during the first half of Thursday's game at Rabobank Arena.
An official keeps his eye on the play as the Jam's Terrell Everett goes up for a layup against the Dakota Jam in the first half of Thursday's game at Rabobank Arena.
In the midst of a fierce battle for a spot in the D-League playoffs, the Bakersfield Jam got a huge lift from its bench Thursday night at Rabobank Arena.
Reserves Terrance Thomas, Alpha Bangura, Terrell Everett and David Berghoefer combined for 47 points and 21 rebounds to help the Jam beat the Dakota Wizards 119-115 and move one game ahead of idle Albuquerque for the eighth and final playoff berth.
The Jam (23-19) dominated the first three and a half quarters, building a 20 point lead with 7:06 remaining in the game before holding on for its second straight victory.
Trey Johnson had 19 points and Nick Lewis added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Jam, which improved to 2-0 against the Wizards this season.
The 119 points were Bakersfield’s most since the new calendar year began.
“After tomorrow no one is going to know if we won twenty or one,” Jam coach Scott Roth said. “It’s a 'w' in our record and we’ll take it. We have two big games coming in this homestand. I can’t emphasize how big it is for us these next two games.”
The Jam led by twelve after at the end of three quarters and appeared to be on its way to a blowout victory when it began the fourth quarter on a 16-8 run.
But Romel Beck wouldn’t let Dakota (23-18) go down without a fight, scoring 12 of his season-high 33 points in the final two minutes to make it a three-point game with 20.6 seconds left.
Two seconds later Mateen Cleaves sank 1-of-2 free throw attempts to put the game away for good.
The Jam played extremely well in the first half, moving the ball around on offense with crisp passing to find open shooters who knocked down 52 percent of their field goal attempts en route to a 64-54 lead at the break.
Bakersfield led by just two until a lineup featuring Johnson and the four reserves boosted the advantage to 11 during the first seven minutes of the second quarter. “They did a nice job,” Roth said. “It was probably the most output we’ve got out of the bench this year.” Berghoefer made all four of his field goal attempts against Dakota giving him 19 straight without a miss. “My teammates are giving me the ball in the right spot,” Berghoefer said. “You've got to thank them. They're providing my makes. You have to give them all the credits and accolades for that one. I’m just putting the ball in the basket.” The Jam hopes that team-first approach will payoff in its final eight remaining regular season games. “We just have to take care of our business,” Roth said. “We control our own destiny. We have a tough schedule but we have some home games that we can do some damage in and then we have to pick one or two off on the road … I’m excited. It’s a great time of year for us. Last year at this time we weren’t fighting for anything so it’s nice to finally be fighting for something.”
