Tacoma Tide 117 – 106 Central Oregon Hotshots

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – An early ankle injury wasn't enough to stop the International Basketball League's all-time leading scorer and four-time all-star selection from carrying his team to a 117-106 victory against the Central Oregon Hotshots in his final home appearance as a member of the Tacoma Tide.

“[An ankle injury] just kind of throws your whole timing off, so I had to go back to fundamentals” said Dontay Harris. “Focus more on rebounding and trying to get out on the break and get some layups going.”

That focus paid off for the 6-foot-9 power forward, as he finished the night with a double-double, scoring 21 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.

“He’s just relentless,” said Tide assistant coach Bob Niehl.

“He’s after every rebound just relentless, he’s just a – I’d hate to guard him because he never takes a play off.”

That relentless effort came up big for Tacoma (6-14) in the second half. After Central Oregon (4-15) hit a three pointer mid-way through the third quarter, Tacoma’s lead was cut to eight, but on the Tide’s next two scoring possessions, Harris bolted to the basket, coming down with rebounds and putting himself in position to score. The first, coming on a made free throw after he was fouled in the act of attempting to lay the ball in, while the second resulted in a successful basket.

Harris also made his presence felt on the defensive end, triggering a key turnover with a little over a minute left in the third by diving to the court while poking an incoming pass free to be picked up by a teammate.

“It’s all about helpin’ the helper,” said Harris. “If I’m help-side, I’m trying to be the first person over there to get in the way and if I gotta help the person that helped, I’m trying to dive down to get a deflection.”

Finding his scoring touch in the fourth quarter, Harris piled on 10 of his 21 points in the final 12 minutes of play.

“He was just playing hard, he was playing real hard,” said Central Oregon guard Hassan Stewart, who had 21 points for the Hotshots. “It’s hard to stop somebody who’s playing harder than you are.”

Notes:
The Tide’s Dontay Harris finished the night with 21 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot…Tacoma was led in scoring by Jameel Shareef, with a game-high 26 points…Central Oregon was led by Cheyenne Moore’s 23 points…Tacoma outrebounded Central Oregon 46-23…Tacoma’s Justin Murray did not suit up for the game due to an injury to his right knee…Prior to the game, the Tacoma Tide honored power forward Dontay Harris, who announced earlier in the week that he is retiring after the season. Harris is the International Basketball League’s all-time leading scorer and is a four-time IBL all-star selection.

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