Arsenal Soar Past Thunderbirds

ANAHEIM, Calif., Jan. 4 -- The last time the Anaheim Arsenal played at home they won 133 - 130 in a dramatic overtime game with only 4 eligible Arsenal players left on the court, due to fouls, injuries, and an ejection. Although Friday’s game against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds did not go into overtime, it was just as dramatic as its predecessor.

Former Orange County High School phenom and current Thunderbird, D.J. Strawberry, helped Albuquerque jump out to a 29-27 lead at the end of the first quarter. Strawberry, who is currently on assignment from the Phoenix Suns, had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first 12 minutes and finished with a game-high 29 points.

Thunderbird big men Darvin Ham, Serge Angounou, and Ejike Ugboaja controlled the boards in the second quarter and helped Albuquerque outrebound Anaheim 23-17. The Arsenal countered with several strong drives to the basket by Guillermo Diaz and Will Blalock, who ended the first half with 13 and 15 points, respectively, and Anaheim tallied seven steals on the defensive end.

The Arsenal came out strong again in the third quarter , which featured an alley-oop dunk by Kedrick Brown and a shot clock-beating 3-pointer by Diaz, who finished with 18 points to led Anaheim. By the start of the fourth, the Arsenal were up 79-69.

In the fourth, Albuquerque looked to cut down its 10-point deficit by slowing down the tempo with better ball movement and spacing. Thunderbird point guard Elijah Ingram controlled his team’s offensive rhythm by looking for the open man, accounting for 5 Thunderbird assists in the game. However, the Arsenal remained undaunted by the slower tempo and continued to score on fast break points off Blalock and Diaz assists.

With 5:16 left to play, Strawberry scored 7 points and the T-Birds moved within 3 points of the Arsenal, 103-100, with less then 30 seconds remaining. With 6.1 seconds left, Strawberry hit a 3-pointer that tied the game 103-103.

Anaheim went to forward Steven Smith on its final offensive possession, and he did not disappoint. Smith nailed a turn-around jumper with 2.3 seconds left that sealed the win.

“Being in the lead for most of the game, we shouldn’t have had to hit a game winning shot, but Steven hit a great shot,” Arsenal coach Reggie Geary said. “[It was] nice to see five guys in double figures, but more importantly we had 20 assists. If the team buys into the philosophy of sharing the ball we’ll be a good team.”