The Great Falls Electric (10-7) have now won five of their last six contests in The Basketball League.
Great Falls’ Brandon Jamar came up big when he needed to. Jamar, one of four players from California on head coach Johnny Clark’s roster, converted a lay up with eleven seconds remaining in regulation to give the visiting Great Falls Electric their tenth victory of the season by edging the Seattle Super Hawks, 104-103 inside Royal Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington on Thursday night.
In four meetings this year, Great Falls won three of those games.
Two minutes into the game, both squads scored five points apiece before the Super Hawks offense pulled away. Great Falls’ Antwaan Cushingberry cut the deficit to 20-18 with 4:39 remaining with his pull up jumper. The Montana TBL team trailed 29-27 as the first quarter ended.
In the second quarter, Great Falls was able to take their first lead on long distance shot by Lyle Hexom (34-33). The Electric looked energized as they scored twice as many points as their Washington opponents, 30-15 for a 64-48 advantage at the break. Four players for Great Falls tallied all the second quarter points (Andrew Whitsett, Antwaan Cushingberry, Lyle Hexom, and Kareem Jamar). Nahziah Carter, David Jenkins, Jr., Robert Upshaw and JD Tisdale, Jr. scored for head coach Daniel Sandrin’s squad.
Seattle was able to keep their deficit close as they fell behind by seven points (87-80) during the third frame.
The final quarter saw Seattle regain control and take back their first lead since the opening quarter. Nahshon George registered a three pointer to give the host team a 98-97 advantage with five minutes left. A layup minutes later by Brandon Jamar evened the score at 101-101. The Electric outscored the Super Hawks 3-2 over the last three minutes. Brandon Jamar’s layup in the second to last possession proved to be the game winner.
Great Falls snapped Seattle’s five game win streak with the Super Hawks last loss coming to the top team in the TBL’s Northwest Division, the Vancouver (WA) Volcanoes on April 14th (131-119). Great Falls remains in third place behind the Vancouver (WA) Volcanoes (12-4) and the Seattle Super Hawks (12-6)
Antwaan Cushingberry was the only player on either team to play the full 48 minutes and the Indiana native led the team with 24 points and five assists. Lyle Hexom and Kareem Jamar chipped in 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Nazhiah Carter continues to lead the Super Hawks. The Rochester, New York power forward accumulated 33 points on 11-for-18 from the field. Nahshon George and Robert Upshaw combined for 23 rebounds.
