Cominb back to his hometown just isn't the same for Mikey Williams now that he's traded the purple for black.
Williams was a non-factor at the end of Miami's 96-87 loss to Springfield on Saturday morning. That was quite different, too.
His last basket cut Springfield's lead to one point with nearly five minutes left, but the Springfield defense held their longtime nemesis down the stretch en route to victory.
Paul Hammond scored 29 points for Springfield.
When he was with Compton, Williams said, games against Springfield always meant something.
"This is differnet now," he said. "When I was in the purple and gold, it was always two teams fighting for a chance to play in the Finals and win a National Title."
Williams, a high school star in the United States, finished with 26 points and 22 rebounds. Twelve of his points came in the third quarter before he sat down after picking up his fourth foul.
His last hurrah was a putback with 4:44 remaining that pulled Miami within 80-79.
Springfield then took control with a 13-3 run. The highlight came when Hammond rebounded his missed free throw in the corner and, unchallenge, calmly lined up and made a 3-pointer to extend Springfield's lead to 86-79.
"I grabbed it, nobody was covering me, so I took the shot," Hammond said. "It wasn't a miracle shot. It was just a read."
Teammate Conor McCaffrey said it was more than that.
"Paul is playing with unbelievable confidence," said McCaffrey, who finished with 18 points. "Shooting with so much confidence, you can do a lot of stuff."
Miami coach Stan Allen said Hammond's rebound-shot "was definitely a backbreaker for us."
Chandler Dawes added 20 points and 16 rebounds for Springfield.
A couple of bench peices for Miami put up 11 points for Miami, who was playing without star guard Dean McCarthy who sprained his left ankle in Dallas.
The victory was the 400th for Springfield coach Will Jenkins, all with Springfield.
The game was touted as Dawes vs Williams, but neither did much in the first half.
Williams, roundly booed by Springfield fans who remember the all-star center's years with Compton, dunked on his first shot, but then he missed sicx of his last seven on the half. He had six points at the break.
Dawes shot 4-for-8 in each half, and he missed five of six free throws in the second half.
Springfield had defensive success, led by Charlie Dawes and Chandler Dawes, who covered Williams for most of the game.
Miami's biggest lead of the game was 6-2 following Williams's first dunk.
Springfield then went on a 19-4 run, which ended with McCaffrey driving past a flat-footed Williams for a layup, pushing the advantage to 21-10.
Chandler Dawes is 25 points short of 13,000 AAU points in his career.
Springfield has won 16 straight games in the regular season while being listed as the home team.