Heaves hammer Express, 129-73
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Vermont's Brett Gravitt drives to the hoop in the second half of the Frost Heaves' 129-73 win over New Jersey on Thursday. Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus |
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By Anna Grearson Times Argus Staff - Published: January 4, 2008
BARRE – What the Vermont Frost Heaves were lacking in defensive effort in the last two games was made up for 129-fold as the reigning American Basketball Association champions rolled past the Jersey Express 129-73 at the Barre Auditorium on Thursday.
"The guys were really good defensively," Vermont coach Will Voigt said. "They deserve all the credit. We talked about them taking ownership of what defense we're in and what we're doing, and they did. I let them call our defensive game plan the entire game. We had said that we'd do that for the first quarter, and I let them do it for the whole game. Obviously, we can see the results."
Vermont allowed Jersey to snag just seven offensive rebounds – all in the first half – and 32 total boards to Vermont's 77. For the second time in three games, 51 of those rebounds came on the defensive glass.
Brett Gravitt gave Vermont its first lead, 13-12, nearly seven minutes into the game after a Jersey turnover. Erik Nelson made it 15-12 off an assist by Issa Konare, and Konare turned a Dwuan Rice steal into a crowd-pleasing dunk before Burlington native B.J. Robertson sank two consecutive 3-pointers for a 23-12 Vermont advantage.
From there, the night only got longer for Jersey, which trailed by just three, 28-25, at the end of the first quarter.
Vermont's Antonio Burks, who missed the last game — a 108-95 loss at Manchester — with an illness, gave Vermont a 50-32 lead with nearly four minutes left in the first half.
The Express made what would prove to be its last significant push to close the half down 60-43.
John Bryant gave the Frost Heaves a tremendous boost in the first half, tallying a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, and added an assist, a block and a steal for good measure. He added four more boards and another steal in the second half.
"He was great," Voigt said of Bryant, a 6-foot, 7-inch forward. "I don't know if he was sick or what, but he was puking in the hallway after that. So we didn't play him quite as much in the second half, or I'm sure his numbers would have been bigger. He was tremendous. He had a great week of practice. I think you can see how it carries over onto the court. He really busted his butt in practice and came out and dominated the first half."
Vermont needed eight minutes to push its lead to 32 in the third quarter off another 3-ball by Burks. Heaves guard Terrance Green scored nine points in the final minute of the third to give Vermont its biggest lead to that point, 94-57.
The Vermont lead ballooned to 50, 109-59, in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter. The lead hovered around the half-century mark for much of the fourth quarter, growing as large as 66 and as small as 40.
"It's all from the defense," Voigt said of his team's offense. "That's what we keep saying: if we can get stops, and we can run, and when we're in transition, we're pretty good. That's been the missing link sometimes. When we're not persistent on that end, then we become inconsistent on this end. When they start getting confidence that they know they can get a stop with a rebound, their confidence grows on the other end."
The Northfield Savings Bank 110% Community All-Star, Worcester weatherman Roger Hill, actually log ged some time on the floor – 2:24, to be exact – after Vermont had a comfortable 129-66 lead.
Shawn Williams, Anthony Bitting and Phil Slater accounted for a 7-0 run by the Express for the 129-73 final.
Mark Jarrell had a game-high 26 points for Jersey, which falls to 6-4. Alan Watson added 13 points but committed five turnovers, and Robert Skipper added 10 points.
Vermont, now 14-3, was led by Green with 21 points, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and four assists. Burks and Konare both tallied 19 points, with Konare also grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out five assists. Robertson scored 13 points, Dokun Akingbade added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Markus Austin chipped in 11 points and two blocks. Rice finished with six points, six rebounds and 11 assists.
"It was a really good team effort. Holy cow, other than that we took 48 3's. That's got to be some kind of record," Voigt said.
Vermont connected on 16 of those 48 attempts, which did indeed break the previous record of 39 attempts, set just over a year ago on Dec. 21, 2006 against Newark, which is now the Jersey Express.
The Frost Heaves take to the road to face the Quebec City Kebekwa on Saturday night and do not return to Barre until Feb. 7 when they host Halifax. Next weekend features two home games in Burlington, with the Manchester Millrats coming to Memorial Auditorium on Saturday and the Montreal Royal in town on Sunday.
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