Frost Heaves race past Matrix, 94-83
Toolbox
Staff Report - Published: November 13, 2006
MONTREAL – The Vermont Frost Heaves posted their first-ever victory with Sunday's 94-83 win over the Montréal Matrix.
Five players reached double figures for the first-year franchise, which will play its home opener against the Quebec City Kebekwa on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at the Barre Auditorium.
Tyrone Barley paced Vermont with 17 points, followed by Travarus Bennett (15 points), Antonio Burks (14 points), Kevin Harrington (13 points) and Kevin Mickens (11 points).
"With our guys, it's probably going to be this balanced all year," Frost Heaves coach Will Voigt said. "It's different guys at different times. We're fortunate enough to have decent depth, and different players got hot today. We ride the hot hand for a little while and then move to the next guy."
Vermont established a 51-43 halftime lead and never allowed Montreal to pull within six points during the second half. According to Voigt, his players bounced back admirably after Friday's loss in which Quebec City rallied from a 23-point halftime deficit.
"Montreal tried to press, but we handled it much, much better than we did in Quebec," Voigt said.
A key factor in Friday's loss was the American Basketball Association's 3-D rule, which awards a team an extra point if a player steals the ball in the backcourt and then his team scores.
"In this league every team is going to roll out athletes and they're going to press you, and everybody gets sucked into the 3-D effect," Voigt said. "The crowd gets going, the officials buy into and no lead is safe. No question. You have to be strong with the ball – you're not going to win games if you're not. And we improved a little bit in taking care of the ball. We're good as long as we can get shots up, but if you turn the ball over, you can't get shots. I'm happy with where we are defensively – we give up our points off turnovers and in transition."
Former Northwestern standout Mohammed Hachad scored 27 points for Montreal in Sunday's loss.
On Thursday, the Frost Heaves will have a chance to avenge their lone loss when the Kebekwa visit the Barre Auditorium.
"All of us are eager to get back on the floor with those guys," Voigt said. "They had a sellout crowd at their game an there's no doubt that the crowd played a big role in them coming back. I think Barre is going to be rocking on Thursday. It's going to be a great atmosphere."
The Northfield Savings Bank 110 percent community All-Star for Thursday's game will be Barre mayor Thomas Lauzon, who will serve as the Frost Heaves' 13th player.
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