Hot Neon Cools Devils
The Sun Herald
Saturday May 7, 1994
LEON "Neon" Trimmingham lit up the Sydney Entertainment Centre last night in a razzle-dazzle display to lead the Kings to a morale-boosting 106-91 win over the Hobart Devils.
Trimmingham returned to the Kingdome with 31 points, pulled down 11 boards and swatted away five blocks to snap the Kings' two-game losing streak.
The West Indian, who had a disappointing road trip to Perth and Adelaide last weekend, made coach Bob Turner smile again.
In an often spiteful match which saw both Trimmingham and Mark Dalton go to the blood bin, the Kings led at every change.
But the Devils opened with an up-tempo first quarter, lighting up the Entertainment Centre with a flurry of long bombs, including a 15-point effort from American import Calvin Talford.
Hobart stretched their lead in the first quarter to eight points before Trimmingham and fellow import Mario Donaldson began the Kings' comeback.
It took a three-point effort from Donaldson and a similar long bomb from Greg Hubbard to edge the Kings in front at the first change.
Then coach Turner bravely gambled in resting his stars, opting to start the second term with his bench.
It was a gamble that nearly backfired as Talford and Hobart youngster Anthony Stewart kept the Devils within striking distance at halftime.
But any hope of a Hobart revival was quickly snuffed out within minutes of the third quarter as Hubbard found his long-range shooting touch with a series of three three-pointers.
Hubbard's fine outside shooting proved crucial with Trimmingham, and later Mark Dalton, requiring running medical repairs after finishing on the wrong end of some wild and woolly elbows from the islanders.
Sydney tough guy Dalton didn't take too lightly to the close checking and was involved in an altercation with Hobart's second import Lamont Middleton.
With Hubbard on fire the Kings' path to victory came on a 19-10 surge midway through the third period.
Two trips to the charity stripe by Dalton ensured the Kings had a healthy 13-point buffer at the last break.
The Devils, despite their bottom-of-the-table position, refused to go down without a fight and got to within five points of the Kings before Turner called a critical time-out.
Turner's side court chat did the trick and the Kings came home.
KINGS 106 (L Trimmingham 31, G Hubbard 24, M Donaldson 17) defeated HOBART DEVILS 91 (C Talford 29, A Stewart 12, W McDaniel 17).
© 1994 The Sun Herald