Historic victory for Jam
| Saturday, Apr 04 2009 11:05 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Apr 04 2009 11:05 PM
Special to The Californian
As if battling for a playoff berth wasn't motivation enough, Mateen Cleaves had a little extra incentive Saturday afternoon against the Anaheim Arsenal and its coach Sam Vincent, a fellow Michigan State alum.
The Bakersfield Jam point guard, who was the MVP of the Final Four after guiding the Spartans to the NCAA championship in 2000, had 14 points and 12 assists, but more importantly, was a thorn in the side of Anaheim's leading scorer Cedric Bozeman in the Jam's 96-84 victory in the team's final regular season home game of the year at Rabobank Arena.
"I take it personally, to be honest," Cleaves said. "If you call a play against me or you try to post me up or come at me, I take pride in stopping the guy in front of me."
Although Bozeman, who averages 19 points per game, finished with 20, nine of them came in the final minutes with the game already in hand.
"He had a little chip on his shoulder with Sam Vincent sitting on the other end," said Jam head coach Scott Roth of Cleaves. "I think there's a little Michigan State rivalry and he wants to make sure he does well in front of him. Mateen plays best when he has some emotional stake invested in the game."
With just two games left, the Jam (26-22) clinched their first winning season and moved into sole possession of sixth place in the race for eight berths into the NBA D-League playoffs, one-half game ahead idle Dakota. Bakersfield closes its regular season with two games at Idaho, Wednesday and Friday.
"We've probably got a couple of knuckles in right now, but to make sure we get in we have to make sure we at least one of the two in Idaho," said Roth of his playoff chances. "We're inching closer to that. We have a big task ahead of us. I don't think we've ever won in Idaho. So we'll see what happens."
The Jam shook off a slow start Saturday, erasing an 11-point, second-quarter deficit with a 23-6 run -- ignited by the return of Cleaves from a five-minute rest.
Cleaves had four points and four assists during the run, capped by his jumper from the top of the key that gave the Jam a 46-40 lead with 1:35 left in the half.
"We want to get into the playoffs, but we've been getting a lot of support all year, so we wanted to have a good showing," Cleaves said. "We take pride playing at home and it was a lot of fun tonight."
Bakersfield's fun continued into the second half thanks in large part by Nick Lewis. The 6-foot-10 center nailed three straight 3-pointers, capping 12 straight points, to give the Jam a 70-52 lead with 4:35 to play.
Lewis finished with 21 points and added seven rebounds to support a 23-point, eight-rebound performance by Derrick Byars. Terrance Thomas also had a solid effort with eight points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
"I'm happy that we got out of here with a win," Roth said. "I'm happy for the franchise, I'm happy for (owner) Stan Ellis. It's the first winning season in their history. I think we played better during some stretches of the game, but for the most part for the last home game I was excited."
