Clam Fans were beginning to give up on their team after the mid-August departure of Miguel Monje and Nathaniel Whitmore. Both big men were fantastic prospects and a large part of what put the Clams at 14-4 and second in the Big 8 with four games left.
Hope came in the form of two American forwards – Malcolm Bobo and Edgar Frazier – who were signed soon after the deals for Whitmore and Monje were announced. But Bobo was injured in the Defenseless Babies game and the Italian veteran Valerio Squaiella, who was signed to fill the gap, was just too little to late. And so without their prominent big men the Clams finished the season 0-4 and made an unceremonious exit in the first round of the playoffs, losing 67-82 to a Crusader squad they had stomped 78-55 near the start of the season.
And when it rained, it poured. In the Golden Clam Invitational the Clams also got knocked out of the top spot, losing close games to Wisconsin Grizzly Squirrels and Tornado Turtles in the last three weeks to end the round robin portion 10-3. However, their PD was good enough to keep them in second and earn them a trip to the Burrows to take on the Prairie Dogs in the PL Championship.
The game began with the Clams surging out to a quick 9-pt lead. But the home team surged right back, tying the game just before the end of the quarter. And after two more hard-fought quarters, the Clams held a razor-thin, 2-pt margin over the P-Dogs. When the 4th began, Mezzetti came alive making a bucket, snagging a board and dropping a dime to put the Clams up by 6. But Mourlos made his reply, blocking a Frazier attempt, intercepting a pass and adding two with a dunk. That put the exclamation point on a Guangzong layup and two Narusk free throws and pulled the P-Dogs even to the excited cheers of the eleven thousand P-Dog fans. Clam fans were covering their eyes, fully expecting a repeat of their team's recent late-game collapses. (OT @ the Turtles, 3Q @ the Babies, 4Q vs. the Crusaders in the regular season)
But Teodorescu, Squaiella, and Christiansson each added two before the P-dogs could score again. And even though Eaton had to leave the game after taking a hard shot from Cisowski, the P-Dogs couldn't pull closer than 4. With a minute to go, they had to start fouling. But their shots wouldn't drop and the Clams went 8-10 from the line in the last minute. After the smoke cleared, Clam fans dared to peek at the scoreboard and to their amazement, victory was won.
In a ceremony before yet another OT loss (this time in a scrimmage vs. Pyramid of Success) the S24 Golden Clam Invite Banner was raised into the rafters at the Anchor Bay Clamshell. And briefly Clam fans could feel proud about their team.
One fan had this to say after Saturday's scrimmage, "That's what so great about being a Clams fan. It's the excitement of pulling defeat out of the jaws of victory, and knowing every once in a while it will go the other way. And being able to come home, crack open a beer and complain about how GM Simon trades away everything good that ever happened to this team... Well, there's always next season."
Last edited by rhyminsimon at 9/10/2013 6:56:49 PM