Tides start season with split

With a split in their first two games, the North Shore Tides kicked off their inaugural ABA season in Lynn this past weekend.?I knew we had great talent,” team owner and Nahant native Jake Canty said. “I was not sure what the ABA was going to bring as far as competition. I thought the competition was good, and we were great.”The Tides won their opener over the New York City Jaguars, 160-78, Saturday night and lost a close one to the Westchester Dutchmen, 144-139, on Sunday. Both games were at Tech.The Tides had the same starting lineup in both games: Tony Gallo (point guard) and Dwight Brewington (shooting guard) in the backcourt, Antonio Anderson at small forward, Dorian Brown at power forward and Mike Clifford at center. Corey Bingham and Alvin Abreu rounded out the top seven, Canty said.?Our guards are six feet, and Mike Clifford and Dorian Brown are 6-8, 6-9,” Canty said. “We have about four, five guys who are 6-8. The rest are 6-0, 6-2.”The first game got off to a delayed start because the Jaguars? bus was involved in an accident on the Mass Pike.?Everyone was all right,” Canty said. “Their bus hit a car. It was real unexpected. It was just an unfortunate situation that made them be late. There was nothing they could do. They had to get rides, wait for rides.”Canty said that even though the game began an hour and a half late, “not one person left the gym” among the 500-plus fans there.Gallo and Clifford led the way on opening night, each pouring in over 30 points. Bingham also helped out, Canty said.In Sunday?s game, Gallo led the Tides with 42 points. Brewington had 27. Abreu also played well, Canty said.Canty said that ABA games have a high-scoring trend. For instance, a layup off a turnover in the backcourt is worth three points, and a shot from the three-point line off a backcourt turnover is worth four points.?We were pretty much lights-out the first two games,” Canty said. “In the second, it was just poor defense down the stretch. We were winning most of the game.”As for the home fans this past weekend, “the crowd was what made me happy,” Canty said. “It wasn?t just Lynn people, it was the whole North Shore. I had family from Salem and Nahant. People from Salem, Swampscott, parents, little kids, people in their 20s, high school kids, middle school, elementary school … older people who were interested. It was a diverse crowd.”Troy Brown is the Tides? coach, assisted by Marvin Avery. The Tides travel to Newark, NJ for their next game, against the Jersey Express on Saturday. On Sunday, they return to Tech for a home game against the New York Jam (1).