Yellow Jackets Come From Behind In Nail-Biter, Advance To 13-0 Over Binghamton

 

by Thomas Leturgey with Arianna Rosemond

Less than 24-hours after defeating a Burning River Buckets team that played with only five members of the team, the Steel City Yellow Jackets faced one of their toughest opponents in the Binghamton Bulldogs. The home team was able to come from behind in the final moments of the fourth quarter and came away with an impressive 110-99 victory.

The Yellow Jackets came out fast against the Bulldogs, with Brandon Franklin, Claude Scott Jr. and Tone Reddic, Sr. setting a quick, 8-2 pace. The Yellow Jackets extended their early lead to 13-7 before the Bulldogs started to gain their footing. The Yellow Jackets came back and had a 20-9 lead with 3:54 to go in the first quarter. The Bulldogs had their own run, and at the end of the first quarter, Ace Pippen's club was up 23-21.

In the opening seconds of the second quarter, the Bulldogs tied the game at 23. Tim Jackson added two unanswered buckets and the Yellow Jackets were ahead 28-23. The Bulldogs came back and with 8:00 remaining in the half, the visiting squad tied the score at 28. the Bulldogs took their first lead in the game with 6:30 remaining in the first half, 33-31. Each team traded buckets in the final moments of the half, and traded the lead. Reddic nailed two free throws to tie the contest at 42. Brandon Johnson, Gilmore Cummings and Justin Hamilton came on strong in the final minute of the half, and the Yellow Jackets led 47-46 at the half.

Around this time, Gilmore Cummings, who suffers from back problems, was unable to return in the second half.

When the second half resumed, the Bulldogs came on strong--including a 3D four-point field goal, and led 57-49. Brandon Johnson got the Yellow Jackets back into the game with a 3-pointer and Claude Scott added a bucket that trimmed the Bulldogs lead to 59-54. The momentum didn't last long, and the Bulldogs sprinted to a 66-54 lead, and then 71-59. Co-Captain Reddic hit a bucket to trim the lead to 10 points, 71-61. As luck would have it, the fouls against the Bulldogs started to pile up, and Reddic, as well as Scott, hit four free throws to trim the lead to 73-68. Reddic hit a three-pointer to get closer to the lead 74-71. The Bulldogs answered with a 3-pointer of their own, 77-71. At the end of the third quarter, the Bulldogs held onto a 77-73 lead. 

The fourth quarter began with the Bulldogs continuing to extend their lead, but fouls also started to hurt the visitors and the Yellow Jackets took advantage of the situation. Brandon Franklin hit four straight free throws, trimming the Bulldogs lead to 81-77. The Bulldogs landed one free throw before Reddic added two more, making it a 82-80 deficit. With 8:44 remaining in the game, Tim Jackson--who took over minutes for the injured Cummings--tied the game with a basket 82-82. Play got choppy over the next few moments and the Bulldogs took a 86-82 lead. Nothing was falling for the Yellow Jackets. With 6:00 left in the contest, the Bulldogs had a 7 point lead, 89-82. Then Franklin was fouled, he hit two free throws and Tim Jackson added another, 89-85. Tone Reddic and Claude Scott came on from there. Scott added two free throws to tie the game 90-90 with 4:47 to go. Reddic and Jackson came on strong in the next 1:30 minutes of the game. With 2:15 remaining, Reddic scored to extend the Yellow Jacket lead 100-91. Justin Hamilton and Tim Jackson added insurance scores, as the Yellow Jackets were now in the lead 104-91. Franklin and Reddic scored in the final minute, leading to a 110-99 finale. The Yellow Jackets outscored Binghamton's club 37-22 in the last 12 minutes to clinch the victory.

The 13-0 Steel City Yellow Jackets celebrate a 110-99 victory Sunday evening.

Reddic showed his mettle as co-captain and lead the Yellow Jackets with 34 points. Brandon Franklin posted 23, Tim Jackson added 17, and Claude Scott had 10.

Brent Williams and Ralph Williams each had 21 points for the Bulldogs. Johnny Marsh added 14. All 10 members of the Bulldogs traveling squad scored.