The name has a familiar ring to it, and the game has some similarities.

George Gervin was one of the original stars of the American Basketball Association before becoming an NBA legend.

Now another Gervin is making a splash in the ABA. Caleb Gervin, a 6-foot-1 guard with a quick-trigger jump shot, is the nephew of George Gervin.

Caleb Gervin scored 34 points to lead the Bellingham to a 122-115 victory against the Xplosion in the second round of the ABA last night before a disappointed and disappointing crowd of 672 at Petersen Events Center.

The Xplosion managed a furious rally in the second half. It wiped out a 24-point deficit to pull even at 109-109 on Wayne Copeland's steal and home-run pass to Chris Acker for a basket on a goaltending call with 3:40 left in the game. But the Xplosion never could grab the lead.

The Slam pulled away down the stretch to end the inaugural season in the ABA for the Xplosion (18-12). The Slam (20-14) advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday in Rochester, N.Y.

DeVaughn Halsel, a standout at Point Park in the mid-1990s, led the Xplosion with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Armon Gilliam had 17 points and nine rebounds, Isaac Jefferson 16 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists, Wayne Copeland (Perry) 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, and Jason Benson (Schenley) 11 points.

"I was trying to find a combination of guys dedicated to hustling and playing defense," Xplosion coach Tom Thacker said of the comeback. "But you expend twice as much energy to catch up, then you're exhausted. We took a couple ill-advised shots at the end."

The beginning wasn't very inspired.

The 18-day layoff seemed to take a toll on the Xplosion in a sloppy first half filled with careless ballhandling and lackluster defense.

"We played really sluggish and relaxed on defense," Thacker said. "We played lousy."

The only player for either team on top of his game was Gervin, who tortured the Xplosion with 19 points in the first half. Gervin's 3-pointer made the score 60-52 at halftime.

The Xplosion got a lift from Janerio Spurlock, who came off the bench to provide some energy and offensive spark with three 3-pointers and 13 of his 14 points before intermission.

The Xplosion continued its lethargic performance at the outset of the second half as the Slam took advantage of numerous turnovers to stretch its advantage to 75-57 on Jacob Stevenson's leaning one-hander from the lane.

It got worse for the Xplosion, which fell behind by 24 points midway through the third quarter.

The Xplosion finally came to life behind the inspired efforts of Copeland, Benson and Halsel underneath to slice the deficit to 92-80 at 1:36.

Gervin's stop-and-pop jumper from the free-throw line temporarily blunted the Xplosion momentum to give the Slam a 97-83 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The Xplosion caught up but fell short. "It's a matter of experience over talent, and we were very inexperienced," Thacker said. "I'm proud of this team. The season was very successful. I have no regrets except we lost this last game."