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Thunder topple Texas 7ERS
Santa Ana Thunder head coach Cliff Levingston has a close-up view of this first-half action, with the Thunder’s Christopher Bradford, right, defending a Texan.
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BERNALILLO — Santa Ana Thunder coach Cliff Levingston wasn’t as happy as one would think after his team held on for a 113-110 victory over the Texas 7ERS Sunday afternoon in the Bernalillo High School gym.
“We got a tough win; we toughed it out,” he said. “That team played us close.”
Nine ties and 17 lead changes show that.
Levingston said his team needs to play better in the third quarter and be more aggressive.
Texas had beaten the Thunder (3-5) by a dozen points the night before in the BHS gym.
Santa Ana held a 50-49 lead at intermission, then was outscored 26-23 in the third period, when it found itself down by as many as eight points. The Thunder rallied late in that period and trailed by just two, 75-73, heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s when the Thunder erupted for 40 points and played good defense over the final two minutes when the 7ERS kept getting within three points but no closer.
The Thunder’s bench outscored Texas’s bench, 60-21, and Santa Ana scored 21 points off turnovers, to 15 for Texas. And despite losing, Texas had the lead for almost 32 minutes in the 48-minute contest.
The Thunder had seven players in double figures, led by Bakari Eveyln, with 25. Edward Oliver-Hampton had 24, Michael Hood had 14, Christopher Bradford had 13, Darnell Rushton added 11 and Joshua Brewer and Ty Sean Powell chipped in with 10 apiece.
Jonathon Milligan had a game-high 40 for Texas, and flashy guard Dennis Jones had 33.
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Sunday’s win gave the Thunder a split of the series after Texas beat them Saturday evening, 137-125. (No stats were on TBL’s website for this game.)
The Thunder are at Potawatomi, Oklahoma, Thursday, April 25; at Enid, Oklahoma, April 26; and at Wichita, Kansas, April 28.
The Thunder’s next homestand, after they’re idle the weekend of May 3-5, is May 10-11, when they face the Enid Outlaws in both games.
The Thunder had two guards make their debuts Sunday: guards Joshua Brewer and Michael Hood, who wore the jerseys of Javen McNeill and Bradlee Lewis, who appeared in four and eight games, respectively.
