Snowbears slap down Dawgs

TAYLORSVILLE — In a game where everything was a first, the Utah Snowbears got the first they wanted most: a win.

The Snowbears blasted the Visalia Dawgs 132-96 in Utah's inaugural game in the American Basketball Association.

Point guard Curtis Millage stole the ball, ran into a referee and fought his way past for a fastbreak dunk that marked the first points in the Snowbears' short history.

Playing like the building was on fire, the two teams seemed determined not to let the 24-second shot clock make it past the 12-second mark, putting a combined 132 points on the board in the first half alone.

Question: Where in basketball can you put up 50 first-half points and trail by 32 at the break?

Answer: Welcome to the ABA. Visalia, a last-minute fill-in for the Calgary Drillers, celebrated the franchise's one-week anniversary Friday with the loss.

The Snowbears were set to start the season in Calgary, but Calgary couldn't schedule a venue in time, moving the season opener to the Snowbears' home.

Some 1,042 fans showed up at the Salt Lake Community College's Lifetime Activities Center, where the Snowbears and Dawgs will face each other again tonight at 7.

"I'm happy that it was a win," Utah head coach and owner Ike Austin said. "I thought it was fun, we had great fans here tonight. I appreciate all of our sponsors and the fan support."

Point guard Clay Tucker said it was important to the team to get the fans behind them.

"The game tonight meant a lot to us," Tucker said. Tucker, along with former Weber State star Harold Arceneaux, and Millage, sparked the Snowbears early run, jumping out to a 15-6 lead and taking a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

It was the second quarter, however, where Utah really laid it on the undermanned Dawgs, outscoring Visalia by a 44-22 margin.

The Dawgs only dressed seven players for the game — in practice uniforms at that.

"We take our hats off to that team," Tucker said. "We caught those guys at the right time," he said, because Visalia's players have probably spent more time travelling together than they have on a court in practice."

Despite the short bench, coach Gerald Perry's Dawgs managed to slow the Snowbears, holding Utah to just 16 points after the 44-point outburst.

Austin has emphasized the first and last five minutes of each half as critical times in the game to his team, so he was disappointed to see them come out flat after halftime.

With plenty of garbage time and minutes for all of his bench, some of his players shined brighter than others, Austin said, praising the play of starters Tucker, Millage, Arceneaux and center Adam Parada, along with guard Jared Ramirez off the bench.

Tucker said he thought the team played well."I'm never satisfied out there on the hardcourt," he said.

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E-mail: rburton@desnews.com