Thunderdawgs Take Three
Record begins to improve under Gibbons

Tampa Bay - 02/05/01 - The Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs, of the ABA 2000, are one of the hottest teams in the league, having won their third straight game on Sunday afternoon. The ThunderDawgs defeated the San Diego Wildfire 89-87 to move to 6-11 in the ABA Eastern Division and only two and a half games behind first place Memphis in the division, which has to tell you how the division is doing right about now.

The ThunderDawgs began their winning ways on Thursday night with a 107-93 over the Chicago Skyliners, who own the best record in the ABA 2000 and have clocked the ThunderDawgs twice this year.

Six ThunderDawgs scored in double figures, including John Strickland who led the team with 24 points and nine rebounds. The 14-point victory was the worst loss for the Skyliners and the first win for ThunderDawgs’ new coach Gordon Gibbons.

Friday night, the ThunderDawgs got their second win over the San Diego Wildfire, owners of the league’s worst record but three of the league’s top ten scorers. Kwan Johnson who scored a season-high 29 points, and John Strickland, who added 28, led Tampa Bay. The ThunderDawgs had one of their most productive second halves of the year, scoring 65 points to finish off San Diego.

The ThunderDawgs won a defensive battle on Sunday against a struggling Wildfire team that dropped their seventh straight game. Tampa Bay’s Ace Custis scored 31 points while Nate Higgs pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the team to the victory. The ThunderDawgs shot only 34% from the floor, but pulled down a season high 53 rebounds.

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