The Maryland Nighthawks
are a team of the Premier Basketball League based in North Bethesda, Maryland. They were formerly part of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team began play in the fall of 2004.
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MARYLAND NIGHTHAWKS TICKETS
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History
2004-2007: ABA Years
In their first season they finished in third place in the Blue Division with a 15-9 record. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the
Bellevue Blackhawks, 133-120.
Entering their second season, owner Tom Doyle relocated the team from
Show Place Arena in
Prince George's County, Maryland, to
Montgomery County, Maryland. The Nighthawks now play their home games at the Hanley Center for Athletic Excellence of
Georgetown Preparatory School on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Celebrity players such as the
New England Patriots'
Adalius Thomas and former Washington Bullet
Gheorghe Muresan have suited up for the Nighthawks and played as the "11th man", a unique rule in the ABA that allows celebrities to play in a game for an ABA team. The Nighthawks finished the 2005-06 season with a record of 25-10. They also signed 7' 8 3/4" Chinese player
Sun Ming Ming, the largest player ever to play professional basketball in the US. In the playoffs, they faced the
Montreal Matrix in the first round, they would win 145-114, advancing to the second round. There, they faced the
SoCal Legends, where they would lose, 121-123.
In the 2006-2007 season, they finished 13-16. This was the first losing record in the franchise's history. This was the first season in which they missed the playoffs.
2008
In late 2007, the Maryland Nighthawks left the
ABA. They would then move on to become one of the charter franchises of the newly-formed
PBL. For the 2008 season, the Nighthawks signed
Tamir Goodman with former player
Lawrence Moten now the new head coach.
Their first season in the PBL would be the worst in their franchise's history as they posted a 6-14 record. As there were only ten teams in the league, they made the playoffs against the 11-9
Wilmington Sea Dawgs. They defeated Wilmington 125-112. In the second round, they went on to face off against the
Rochester Razorsharks, who easily defeated the Nighthawks 123-102, thus ending their season.
2009
On
October 10,
2008, the team announced that they would be representing the
PBL as the official "Travel Team" of the PBL in China and the Far East. Since the schedule of international play is set to occur concurrently with the PBL regular season, the Nighthawks will not play any regular season games in the
United States.
[1]
The Nighthawks will return to the PBL regular season in January 2010.
References
- Maryland Nighthawks To Be Internationally Showcased