Three games into the AAU National Championship, the Detroit Wolverines finally figured things out: With some energy and aggression, they can actually play with the Springfield Falcons. Not only play with them, but soundly defeat them.
Jaiquan Jones and Chauncey Hamilton led the way as the Wolverines dominated the final 14 minutes and defeated the Falcons 96-79 in Game 3 Tuesday night.
"I think we figured out how hard we have to play," coach Bruce Brown said. "I think our guys realize it's going to take our very best to make this a competitive series."
Hammond getting hurt in the game's first 30 seconds was a non-factor for the first time in the series, and Dawes could not match the energy or enthusiasm generated by Wallace, the AAU defensive player of the year. Wallace's dunk with 4:27 left gave
Detroit had its largest lead up to that point, 88-73, and the Wolverines held on easily from there.
Now, the Wolverines will look to even the series at 2-2 in Game 4 on Thursday night and ensure a trip back to Illinois.
"We knew this was the game that we needed," Marquis Wallace said. "And, definitely being the home team came up in that mix and
supplied a lot of energy for us."
Hamilton scored 24 points, including 10 in the third quarter when Detroit took the lead for good, and Damien Billups added 20.
But although the Wolverines got most of their points from their backcourt tandem once again, they were anything but a two-man team. Marquis Wallace had 15 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and three
steals, and Tristan Prince and Antonio Daniels each added 12 points.
"You know, tonight we really came out here and took care of business at home," Hamilton said. "We defended, we helped each other out and we got a win."
Everything about the Wolverines was different, from their defensive intensity to their dedication in terms of getting more people involved on offense. Hamilton was more assertive in shaking off the pesky defense of Jamison Jones, Prince was much more effective
limiting Hammond, and Marquis Wallace seemed especially motivated to put two very sub-par performances behind him.
"He was great. He played with energy and got their crowd into it," Dawes said. "Their aggressiveness was up, and that in itself fueled what they were doing."
Marquis Wallace blocked his five shots in the first quarter alone, and he had half of Detroit's offensive rebounds in the first half when Detroit had a 24-12 edge in points in the paint and an 11-0
advantage in fast-break points.
He set the tone right from the start, stealing the opening inbounds pass after he was called for a jump ball violation, then racing downcourt for a dunk and a three-point play. Wallace ended an eight-game streak of scoring in single digits and a five-game streak with fewer than 10 rebounds.
Hammond went down just a few seconds later, bruising his left thigh in a collision with Prince just 21 seconds into the game. Though he wasn't sidelined for long, the star of Games 1 and 2 had
just four points at halftime with four turnovers. He finished with seven points and six turnovers.
"No excuses, no reasons, I just didn't play well," Hammond said. "I didn't have a great game, and as a team we didn't have the juice."
Conor McCaffrey led the Falcons with 21 points. Springfield was outrebounded 44-37 and committed 18 turnovers leading to 23 Wolverines points.
There were 20 lead changes and 10 ties, but the Wolverines took over to such a degree late in the third quarter and early in the fourth that Brown was able to empty his bench near the end.