“Hey, Reading Rebels … NIGHT NIGHT!!”

Earlier this year, the Reading Rebels came to Albany and played the Albany Patroons in a hard-fought battle. Albany had a nearly insurmountable 20-point lead; but the Rebels actually clawed their way back and won the game on a last-second shot.

And I remember the Reading fans who came to the Armory. They were boasting and cheering like they had just won the championship. And they were talking smack, telling the Albany fans, “Night night Albany! Night night, go to sleep!”

Ah, but see … we’re now in the postseason. And the Albany Patroons and Reading Rebels are facing each other in an eliminator match. Win or go home. Win and advance. Lose and it’s a long off-season.

And sure enough … this time Albany leapt out to an early advantage. And they held that advantage through the second and third quarters.

But I knew no lead was insurmountable in the TBL. A few misses here, a few turnovers there, and Reading could be back in this game in an instant.

However … that was not the case.

Do you see what I see? 26 points from newly-acquired Arsenio Arrington. 23 points and 10 rebounds from TBL First-Team All-Northeast Trevis Wyche. 15 points and 8 boards from veteran Shadell Millinghaus. And it didn’t matter that anthony Lee dropped 27 points in 46 minutes of play; or that Aquille Carr ratcheted 25 points for Reading. In the end, they were toast.

Suffice it to say … it’s a long drive back to Reading, Pennsylvania. You’ve reached the halfway point once you land on I-78 and the construction zones are all over the Pennsylvania interstate. But that’s okay, too. Perhaps you can get some sleep on the bus ride home.

Or as I would like to say it … Hey Reading – NIGHT NIGHT!! 😀

So what happens now with the Patroons?

We get our next round, best two-out-of-three, against Atlantic City. AC’s the #1 seed in the division, we’re the #2. So we host Game 1 on Thursday night at the Armory, then go to New Jersey for Game 2 (and if needed, Game 3) in Atlantic City.

That’s just fine for us. Survive and advance. Survive and advance.

As far as I’m concerned, we put Reading to sleep.

Now let’s knock down Atlantic City like it’s a Donald Trump-owned casino.