Crush rebound to defeat Las Vegas

Barry Faulkner

There was the trademark toss of his No. 91 jersey into the postgame

crowd. But, since a hamstring injury relegated him to the sideline

for all but the first 2:18 of Thursday night’s Orange County Crush

home American Basketball Association debut against the Las Vegas

Rattlers, Dennis Rodman left it to teammate Jeremee McGuire to

provide the last-second heroics at the Bren Events Center.

The 6-foot-11 McGuire, out of the University of Houston, did his

best Rodman imitation -- collecting an offensive rebound off a missed

19-foot jumper by Derrick Dial and laying it in with one second left

for the difference in a 124-123 Crush victory before about 300

spectators.

“I told Jeremee to crash the board,” Crush Coach Earl Cureton said

of the final sequence, which he initiated by calling timeout with 10

seconds remaining, when he saw McGuire dribbling the ball about six

feet beyond the top of the key.

“I wanted to get us in the right positions,” Cureton said. “We

wanted to run a play for our point guard, Derrick Dial and we wanted

him to take the shot.”

Dial, whose 17 first-quarter points helped the Crush build a 38-23

cushion, was just 2 of 11 in the final three quarters, before his

turnaround bounced off the left side of the rim and was redirected

off the backboard toward the center of the lane and a charging

McGuire.

“We wanted to get a good shot up with enough time to get a

rebound, so I knew the shot was going up,” McGuire said. “I just

tried to get myself into position.”

The Crush (3-1) put themselves in position to have to pull out a

game they once controlled. The hosts blew a lead that topped out at

27 points with 4:14 left before halftime.

Dial’s initial hot shooting -- the 6-4 guard with NBA experience

made four three-pointers in the initial period -- helped the hosts

control things early.

But Las Vegas, which trailed, 73-53, at halftime, whittled the

deficit to 94-89 after three quarters.

The visitors tied it at 98 with 8:05 left and led, 119-114, with

2:52 remaining.

But Sean Rooks made a free throw and Fred Vinson turned a steal

into a dunk -- worth three-points under the league’s three-D rule, in

which a team that scores after a turnover, gets an extra point added

to its score.

Dial followed Vinson’s three points with a driving layin that put

the Crush up, 120-119.

With the Crush leading, 122-121, Rattler Dalron Johnson, a former

UNLV Runnin’ Rebel, sank two foul shots with 39 ticks left to put his

team back on top.

That’s where the score remained until McGuire finished the job.

Rodman, 43, a former NBA rebounding champion still clinging to

hopes of getting back to the NBA, injured his right hamstring in

practice this week, Cureton said.

“It’s a pull and he didn’t want to risk stretching it out all the

way,” Cureton said of Rodman’s decision to cut his night short after

starting and collecting one rebound, one assist and one turnover.

Dial led the winners with 25 points, while Vinson added 17 and

Cordell Henry chipped in 16.

Jerry Dupree (12), Rooks (12), Juaquin Hawkins (10), Damien

Cantrell (10), and Eric Chenowith (10), also hit double figures for

the Crush, who eventually plan to play their home games at the Orange

County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

The Crush’s next scheduled home game is Wednesday against Calgary

at the Bren Center.