Number 17 Ranked Wolverines Travel This Weekend After 159-127 Home Win

The Western Pennsylvania Wolverines after last weekend's 159-127 win. Photo courtesy of Wolverines.

By Thomas Leturgey

Now that the turkey has been trimmed and leftovers lovingly placed in Tupperware for take-home, the American Basketball Association (ABA) weekend is back in action.

On Sunday, Don Wayne’s #17 ranked Western Pennsylvania Wolverines take the 4.5-hour trip to take on the Wyoming Clutch in the northeastern quadrant of the Commonwealth.

The Wolverines won last week against Team Network, 159-127. Originally, that put Western Pennsylvania’s club at a 1-1 record, but the ABA suspended the Pennsylvania Starz for playing inside Pittsburgh’s city limits, a market reserved for the on-hiatus Steel City Yellow Jackets. At the beginning of the season, both the Wolverines and Starz were designated for play in Beaver, Pennsylvania. So, the Wolverines were rewarded with a backdated win.

Among the highlights of last week’s home victory of Stephon McGinnis making history by hitting a half-court shot behind half court. The referee at the game told coach Don Wayne that that was the first five-pointer he saw made in his 14 years as an ABA official. McGinnis led all scorers with 50 points.

McGinnis posted an impressive offensive line with 11 points in the first quarter, 14 (including the five-pointer) in the second, 17 in the third and 8 in the final 12 minutes. McGinnis hit 80% of his two-point plays and an incredible 82-percent of threes.

Randy Whitley, on the strength of nine 3-pointers, added 32 points. Whitley scored 12 in the first quarter, eight in the second, and 11 in the third. He his three of his four attempts beyond the stripe.

Demitri Ford and Marcus Mason were strong under the net for the Wolverines and “were a big help with rebounding,” added Wayne. Ford had 13 rebounds; Mason had 8.

Clifton McNair had a productive game for the Wolverines, with eight of his 22 points in the second quarter and 11 in the third.  

Dyami Fox suffered a severe injury in the second half when he took an unfortunate fall. He was rushed to a local hospital and is expected back in three weeks. He finished the game with seven points and 10 boards.

Ten Wolverines contributed to the output on Sunday, Marcus Millien had 17-points, Mason 9, Ford with 7, Kevin Hurt with 6, LeAndre Evans 5, Stephen Vorum added 4 in the second quarter. Kaezon Pugh and Desmond Saunders also contributed in limited action.

Nigil Ward led Team Network with 48 points and Delshaun Phelps had 30. Team Network only had six players on the court.

“What a great game at our first home game. We started off good with run after run in the first half. We used our skills with amazing performance to set a tone.” The Wolverines went into half-time with a 15-point lead. The team came out strong in the second half and worked a strong game until the end. Wayne said the team looked at Team Network’s game film and “were prepared for work.”