WBA NEWS

Rome hangs on to Capture WBA Championship

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 12:00 PM

WBA

On Saturday night at the Winthrop-King Centre, the Rome Gladiators went from worst to first. Rome held off the Mississippi HardHats 103-100 to win the World Basketball Association championship just one season after finishing with a 6-15 record, worst in the WBA.

"Our main goal at the start of the season was to win our division", said Gladiators coach Harold Ellis. "But I thought if we played together, we could be a special team and boy, were we special tonight." To go from worst to first is just amazing to me. I can't believe the effort these guys gave to make this happen." With the win, Rome (24-3) also avenged its only home loss of the season and avenged all three of its regular-season losses in the postseason.

The Gladiators led 101-96 with just under a minute to go in the game and seemed to be in control, but Mississippi two free throws from Detrick White and a layup by David Sanders (192-G-80) with 11 seconds to go to get to within 103-100. The HardHats forced a turnover and had the ball with a chance to tie with 9.6 seconds to go, but the Gladiators' defense, which held Mississippi to just 41.5 percent shooting on the night (34-for-82), forced a miss on a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner as the buzzer sounded.

The Gladiators' coaches and players rushed the floor to celebrate, while the song "Game Over"‚ by Lil' Flip blared over the loudspeakers and sent the Winthrop-King Centre crowd into a frenzy.

"Coach Ellis said it best", said Gladiators point guard Damien McSwine (193-G-78, agency: EM-PA, college: Loyola, IL), who joined the team midway through the season. "Everyone on this team does something well enough to play on the next level. "We have a talented group of guys and all of them contributed to winning this championship.

Harvey Thomas (204-F-82) had a huge game for the Gladiators, scoring a game-high 31 points and adding seven rebounds and three assists. Jamario Moon (203-F-80) had 19 points, eight rebounds, nine blocked shots and three assists, Austin Nichols (198-F-82, college: Humboldt St.) added 19, eight rebounds and six assists and Edmund Saunders (203-F/C-78) had 16 and seven rebounds. Damien McSwine (193-G-78, agency: EM-PA, college: Loyola, IL), who left the game briefly after suffering a cut on his forehead, had a solid all-around game off the bench, scoring six points, grabbing seven rebounds, handing out six assists and making two steals.

After leading by as much as 10 in the third quarter, Rome took a 74-69 lead to the fourth quarter, the first time in the postseason the Gladiators had led going into the final period. Rome extended its lead to 92-82 with 5:23 remaining, but Mississippi made a game of it before the Gladiators held on to win the title.

White had 22 points and 11 assists to lead the HardHats. Horatio Webster (199-F/C-75 St.) had 19, Toraino Johnson and Sanders added 15 each, Ernest Scott (200-F-82) chipped in 12 and Tyrone Davis (198-G/F-79, college: Coahoma CC) finished with 10 for Mississippi.

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