DANVILLE, INDIANA – The Indiana Lyons’ struggles in the 2022-23 American Basketball Association (ABA) season continued over the weekend of Nov. 19 and 20 with two eight-point home losses.
On Nov. 19 in Bosstick Gym, the Lyons faced an ABA Midwest Region foe, the Clarksville Phoenix (3-0), who came into the game ranked No. 14 in the ABA out of more than 150 teams. Clarksville had revenge on their minds since the Lyons eliminated the Phoenix from the Midwest Region tournament last season.
Revenge is exactly what the Phoenix got on their road trip from Tennessee by way of a 101-93 win against the home team.
Clarksville jumped out to an early lead with precision shooting, multiple three-pointers, aggressive rebounding, and solid ball control. The same could not be said for the Lyons, who struggled to make field goals and free throws and who seemed uninterested in collecting rebounds.
The Lyons managed a slim 25-24 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 28-24 briefly in the second quarter, but it was all downhill from there. They could find no answer for Clarksville forward Jimario Rivers, who dominated on both sides of the ball.
A herculean effort on offense and defense throughout the game by five-year veteran Mike Pugh kept the Lyons close enough to the Phoenix to make the contest interesting, but Clarksville never faced a serious threat to notching a victory.
Looking to rebound on Nov. 20, the Lyons welcomed the defending ABA North Central Region champions, the Burning River Buckets, who drove through a massive snowstorm in Cleveland to visit the Lyons Den. The Buckets were ranked No. 13 in the ABA and sported a 3-0 record on the season heading into Sunday’s game.
That record improved to 4-0 after the visiting Buckets handed the Lyons a 110-102 loss.
As has been the theme throughout the 2022-23 campaign so far, the Lyons could not get field goals or free throws to fall with any regularity, nor were they aggressive in seeking out rebounds.
Not helping matters was the absence of 7’0” Alex Brown, who was injured in the Clarksville game, as well as the absences of Kendric Lee, Jai Wright, and Trey Pool.
For most of the game, the Buckets led comfortably, extending their advantage to more than 20 points several times. A furious rally in the third quarter brought the Lyons to within four points of the Buckets, but Indiana could not close the deal.
The Buckets only brought six players, but they were all lethal. Gabe Kynard led the attack with 34 points, while Anthony Coleman added 22 and Justin Fritts contributed 20. As a team, the Buckets went 17-for-34 from three-point range.
Jordan Hidleburg led the Lyons with 21 points and 6 assists, scoring on 4 of his 6 three-point attempts.
The Lyons drop to 1-3 on the season, 0-2 in Midwest Region play, and an unprecedented 0-3 at home. Their next game is on the road on Dec. 3 against the Excelsior Springs Scream. The Lyons will return home for games on Dec. 10, 11 and 17.
