2016 FBA Season/16.05.05
| Thursday, May 5 | |||||
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| BAL | 
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81 | |||
| ALB | 
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91 | W | 
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| HNT | 
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93 | |||
| QNS | 
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100 | W |
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| LOR | 
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106 | W | ||
| PLY | 
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92 |
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| TAL | 
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119 | W | ||
| BGR | 
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118 |
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| TEN | 
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101 | |||
| PIT | 
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105 | W |
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| WIL | 
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97 | |||
| BLV | 
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104 | W |
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| Previous Day | Next Day | ||||
Baltimore Spirits @ Albany Alphas
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Arena: Farigami Park - Albany, NY Player of the Game: Timur Tomilin (Mammoth, C) - 14 pts, 12 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk |
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Huntsville Mayors @ Queens Pride
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Arena: Rucker Stadium - Queens, NY Player of the Game: Kamakani Iona (Red Panda, G/F) - 16 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl |
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Lorain Firestorm @ Plymouth Taproots
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Arena: Roots Garden - Plymouth, MA Player of the Game: Michelle Sundos (Genet, G) - 13 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl |
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Tallahassee Typhoons @ Bangor Tides
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Arena: Shawshank Stadium - Bangor, ME Player of the Game: Rosalie Smoot (American Bison, F/C) - 19 pts, 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk |
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It all came down to this. After 63 games of an abbreviated season, 22 teams already knew whether their year was over or their playoff run was about to begin. Two teams, the Biloxi Voodoo and the Tallahassee Typhoons, remained in limbo. With identical 33-30 records, the Voodoo held the edge by dint of their superior conference record. For the Typhoons, tonight represented their final chance to eke into the playoffs. If Biloxi won and Tallahassee lost, Biloxi was in. If both teams lost, Biloxi was in. If both teams won, Biloxi was in. The only way the Typhoons could make it in was if they beat the Bangor Tides and the Voodoo simultaneously lost to the Williamsburg Minutemen. It was a slim chance, but after clawing their way up from the basement earlier in the year the Typhoons were not about to be stoppable now. Deep in hostile territory, the court colored white with blue stripes for playoff-bound Bangor’s last home game of the season, the team from Florida had everything to play for and tonight they showed it. The Typhoons opened the first quarter with a hurricane-force flurry, opening up a 6-0 lead off a series of crisp plays by Franz Volker (Doberman, G) and Oliver Vance (Swift Fox, G), backed by the strong defensive effort of Rosalie Smoot (American Bison, F/C). By the end of the first quarter, the visitors had a 5 point lead. The Tides, however, did not secure a playoff spot by accident. Over the next two quarters, the home team gradually chipped away at their guests’ lead. The infallibly consistent Blanc Mange (White Wolf, F) along with fellow veteran Monty Silverthorn (Pine Marten, G) put up shot after shot, while Benjamin Durby (Fallow Deer, C/F) and Raoul Kidane (Ethiopian Wolf, C) matched the Floridians rebound-for-rebound. The Tides slow-and-steady philosophy saw the home team up by 1 going into the fourth quarter. The Typhoons aggressiveness and desperation began to take a physical toll. Volker and Vance both left the game early in final quarter, but the team hardly seemed to notice. There was a feeling that it would all be worth it if they could just make it into the playoffs. With such capable and proven backups as Narkissa Kassius (Ringtail Lemur, G) and Juniper Hill (Maned Wolf, G), no one showed any hint of doubt that the upset was still possible. A missed free throw by Kidane in the final seconds was enough to keep the game tied. 63 games and 48 minutes would not be enough to get the Typhoons into the playoffs. This game would require overtime. Mange drew first blood off a shimmering assist from Roni Fulton (Raccoon, G) but the Typhoons fired right back with layup from Hill. The back-and-forth continued, interrupted only by a dazzling 3-pointer from rookie Georges Poulletier (Chicken, F). As the clock wound down, a defensive mismatch between Durby and Amelia Odessa Springer (Goat, F) resulted in an injury to the goat. Tallahassee head coach Hildegard Tetreault substituted Brad Pullman (Bald Eagle, F). Pura Doris Quaatsch (Zebra, G) (her own stripes temporarily dyed navy blue for the occasion) missed an off-balance shot that would have put the Tides up by 3. The rebound was recovered by Neil LaRocca (Black Cat, C) and immediately passed to Kassius. Double-teamed by the Tides, the primate made the only play she could, a pass to Pullman through the smallest of windows. The eagle drove deep into the paint and made a desperate one-flap leap towards the hoop. The ball left his feathered fingertips, rolled around the rim, and fell through the net. The buzzer marking the end of the game was completely drowned out by Pullman’s triumphant victory skree, and possibly deafened some of his teammates as they mobbed him. They had done it, by the slimmest of margins. A 1 point win in overtime. Now all that remained was… The joy was short-lived. As one, the Typhoons turned to look at the out-of-town scoreboard. As one, their expressions of elation crashed to the floor. While the overtime had been in full swing, the Voodoo had beaten the Minutemen. The Voodoo were going to the playoffs, and the Typhoons were not. Far too abruptly, the season was over. Smoot sank to the bench, her horned head in her hands, unable to even muster the energy to make a dignified exit down the corridor to the locker room, the outcome especially bitter to her. The bison had chosen to leave Biloxi during free agency, her stated reasoning in part being that she believed Tallahassee had a better shot at the Halley Summers. Beside her, Kassius stared in disbelief. For the second year in a row, the lemur had been shut out of the playoffs at the very last game of the season. There was no joy in Bangor. Not from the Tides fans who had watched their team lose in overtime, and not from the visitors whose playoff hopes had been shattered by the results of a game they had no control over. Typhoons’ assistant coach Tazel Tawner put a hand on Smoot’s shoulder and leaned down to say something into the ungulate’s ear. Smoot rose heavily to her hooves, took a long look around, and began the long walk down the tunnel. Together, the Typhoons shambled off the court to the sanctuary of their locker room. Tetreault brought up the rear, her narrowed eyes staring into the distance at Next Year. There’s always Next Year.
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Tennessee Moonshiners @ Pittsburgh Keystones
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Arena: AmeriSteel Forum - Pittsburgh, PA Player of the Game: Terrence Tolliver (Pronghorn, G) - 23 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl |
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Williamsburg Minutemen @ Biloxi Voodoo
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Arena: Crawdad Stadium - Biloxi, MS Player of the Game: Craig Reinhardt (Black Panther, F/C) - 20 pts, 12 reb, 1 blk |
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Daily Stats
See the complete box scores for 16.05.05