CBA weekly report

by CBA Press Release
February 26, 2002 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)

CBA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The Continental Basketball Association announced on Feb. 25 that Flint Fuze forward James Head earned the National Conference Player of the Week Award and Rockford Lightning forward Kenny Inge picked up American Conference honors for the period of Feb. 17-23.

Head, a 6-7 Eastern Michigan ('98) standout, averaged 28.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in leading the Fuze to a 2-1 record in three games versus the Saskatchewan Hawks. In a 115-109 win on Feb. 21 he led all scorers with 37 points. Head is in his second CBA season, having spent time with the Idaho Stampede and Rockford Lightning in 1999-00.

Inge, a 6-8 rookie from North Carolina State ('01), joined the team on Dec. 20 after having spent last fall with Zalgiris of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He averaged 20.3 points on 28-50 shooting from the field (.560) and 10 rebounds in leading the Lightning to a 3-1 mark for the week. In a 93-67 victory over Grand Rapids on Feb. 17, Inge posted a game high 30 points to go along with his 10 rebounds.

Other players receiving consideration in the National Conference were Dakota's Danny Johnson (30 ppg, 6 apg), Fargo-Moorhead's Ruben Nembhard (23.3 ppg, 9.3 apg) and Saskatchewan's Deryl Cunningham (23 ppg, 14 rpg). The three other players considered in the American Conference were Gary's Damian Owens (23.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg), Sioux Falls' Carl Thomas (16.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Grand Rapids' Terquin Mott (19.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg).

CBA TRANSACTIONS

02/26/02
-Dakota placed Kevin Rice on its Active Roster.

02/25/02
-Rockford placed Tony Martin on the Inactive Reserve List, retroactive to Feb. 24, 2002. -Flint placed Marvin Gay and Simeon Haley on its Active Roster, and waived Robert Foster. -Dakota waived Rico Hill.

02/22/02
-Gary placed Jamie Kendrick on its Active Roster, and placed Leon Smith on the Inactive Reserve List (Violation of Team Rules), retroactive to Feb. 14, 2002. -Sioux Falls signed Jeff Rabey.

02/21/02
-Fargo-Moorhead signed Arthur Davis.

02/19/02
-Saskatchewan waived James Penny. -Grand Rapids signed Rob Dye and waived Jeff Rabey. -Dakota signed Wayne Turner, and placed Kevin Rice on the Injured Reserve List, retroactive to Feb. 17, 2002. -Sioux Falls waived Khari Jaxon and Ray Weathers. -Flint signed Kenyada Dent.

AROUND THE CBA

DAKOTA: Miles Simon led the Dakota Wizards to a 112-106 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead Beez on Friday Feb. 22, scoring 29 points. Chris Porter added 20 points for the Wizards and grabbed 11 rebounds. Andy Panko chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Wizards received six quarter-points for the win and regained first place in the CBA's National Conference. Reuben Nembhard led the Beez with 29 points. On Saturday Feb. 23 the Wizards received six quarter-points as they downed the Beez 102-80. Guard Danny Johnson led a balanced Wizards attack with 23 points and eight assists. Guard Simon, post Courtney James, guard Michael Johnson and forward Porter added 17, 16, 14 and 10 points, respectively. The 6-8 James also yanked down 11 rebounds. Nembhard and Billy Keys were the heart of the Beez attack with 24 and 16 points, respectively. Fargo-Moorhead came into the Capital City with a 21-9 record and a 4.3 to 4.2 average quarter point edge. They left with a 21-11 mark and trailed the Wizards 4.3 to 4-0 in points. The Wizards (18-10) travel to Saskatchewan this week with games on Tuesday and Thursday.

FARGO-MOORHEAD: The Fargo-Moorhead Beez started last week with a big win over the Gary Steelheads 102-95 on Monday, Feb. 18. Brian Green led the way for the Beez while scoring 31 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. The Beez traveled to Bismarck to face the Dakota Wizards on Feb. 22 and 23. The Beez fell both nights, 112-106 and 102-80 respectively. Billy Keys scored 32 and Rueben Nemhard added 29 on Friday, while Saturday night Nemhard scored 24, Keys added 16, and Arthur Davis had 15. After the weekend the Beez fell to second place in the National Conference behind the Dakota Wizards.

FLINT: Flint Fuze forward James Head, this week's National Conference Player of the Week award winner, averaged 28.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in leading the Fuze to a 2-1 record in three games versus the Saskatchewan Hawks. In a 115-109 win on Feb. 21 he led all scorers with 37 points. Head is in his second CBA season, having spent time with the Idaho Stampede and Rockford Lightning in 1999-00. On Feb. 17 Flint lost to the Hawks 107-94 but redeemed themselves on Feb. 19 with a 122-113 win over Saskatchewan. The Fuze do not play again until March 8 and 10 when they travel to Bismarck to face the Dakota Wizards.

GARY: The Steelheads and forward Charlie Miller played their 100th game in franchise history on Saturday, Feb. 23. The Steelheads defeated Grand Rapids 109-100 at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids. Miller scored a season-high 30 points on a season-high 12 field goals. Miller is the only Steelhead to play in every game in the franchise's history. Darrin Hancock, who joined the team late last season, has played in 53 games. The victory gave Gary its 7th road win of the season --tying last year's total for road wins. The Steelheads completed a seven-games in 11 days road trip with a Monday, Feb. 25, 115-80 loss at Grand Rapids. They do not play again until Saturday March 9 when they host Sioux Falls at 7:05 p.m. Damian Owens continues to be on a hot streak. The 6-6 forward scored 117 points in five games last week (23.4 ppg). He was 28 of 40 from the free throw line (.700) and set or tied seven personal season-highs at Rockford in a 118-117 loss. He scored a season-high 39 points in making a season-high 15 field goals and handing out a season-high 12 assists. He tied his high for rebounds by grabbing 13. He also handed out 25 assists (5.0 avg.) and had 13 steals (2.6 avg.). He had 44 rebounds (8.8 rpg.). Owens made 3 of 7 3-point attempts (.429). Owens and Gerald Brown have scored in double figures in all 12 games they have played for the Steelheads. Jeff Stern's 26-point, 17-rebound performace at Grand Rapids on Saturday night marked the 12th time he has hit a double-double this season. Steelie, the team's mascot, visited Jefferson Elementary School in Gary last Wednesday and a tennis carnival for kids at Griffith's Match Point Tennis Club on Saturday ... The Luvabulls, the Chicago Bulls cheerleaders, are scheduled to entertain at the Sunday, March 10 game against Grand Rapids. Game time is 3:05 p.m.

GRAND RAPIDS: The Grand Rapids HOOPS hosted the Gary Steelheads in a matinee performance on Monday, Feb. 25, winning 115-80. It was the first and only game this season that the HOOPS played at 11 a.m. Willie Simms broke Cedric Hunter's record for CBA games played on Thursday, Feb. 21, playing in his 467th CBA game. Simms is in his 10th CBA season, 5th for the HOOPS. He was presented with the game ball during the game. The HOOPS also had their first two consecutive wins in two nights this season when they defeated the Sioux Falls Skyforce in South Dakota (111-105) and returned the next day to defeat them in Michigan (111-108). The HOOPS will play Sioux Falls three more times during the regular season this week, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

ROCkFORD: The Rockford Lightning split four home games in consecutive back-to-back sets against the Gary Steelheads and Sioux Falls Skyforce. The Lightning fell Wednesday night to the Steelheads, 88-83, in the Lightning's worst scoring night of 2001-02, but returned the next night with their best shooting night of the season, nailing 57.8% of their shots in a 118-117 win. Sioux Falls came to town on Saturday and the Lightning produced 77 rebounds (including team rebounds), an unofficial team record, as they defeated the Skyforce 102-90. Sioux Falls came back the next day and did in the Lightning, 100-94 to earn a split in the weekend series during the team's Community Weekend in front of 5,718 fans, the largest two-day attendance of the season and the most for home games on two consecutive days since March 23-24, 2000. The team embarks on a three-game, eight day road swing in the Dakotas, starting and ending on consecutive Tuesday nights in Fargo against the Beez with a return matchup against the Skyforce in Sioux Falls this Saturday night.

SASKATCHEWAN: The Hawks defeated the Flint Fuze, 107-94 on Feb. 17, but lost their next two contests, also versus Flint; 122-113 on Feb. 19 and 115-109 on Feb. 21. The Dakota Wizards make their way across the border for two games at SaskPlace on Feb. 26 and 28. The Hawks will then embark on a three game road trip making stops in Bismarck, Rockford and Fargo.

SIOUX FALLS: The Sioux Falls Skyforce played four games last week with a depleted roster and went 1-3. After dropping a contest to Grand Rapids at home 111-105 on Feb. 20, the Hoops also won the following night 111-108 in Grand Rapids. Center Kipp Christianson dislocated his shoulder in the contest, leaving the Skyforce with seven players on the roster, none over 6-foot-8. The week ended with a back-to-back at Rockford, with the Lightning taking the first game 102-90. Sioux Falls bounced back on Sunday, Feb. 24, behind 36 points and 12 rebounds from Silas Mills.

PRIMETIME PERFORMANCES

Gerald Brown of the Gary Steelheads put together the 5th triple-double of the CBA season with a 22 point, 10 rebound and 14 assist performance in a 102-95 loss to the Fargo-Moorhead Beez on Feb. 18.

Damian Owens posted the Gary Steelheads' second triple-double of the season with 39 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in a 118-117 loss to the Rockford Lightning on Feb. 21.

James Head scored 37 points and nabbed 10 rebounds in a 115-109 Flint Fuze victory over the Saskatchewan Hawks on Feb. 21. He also had 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in the win.

Ruben Nembhard of the Fargo-Moorhead Beez posted 29 points and 12 assists in a 112-106 loss to the Dakota Wizards on Feb. 22. He also made 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.

Silas Mills poured in 36 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in a 100-94 win over the Rockford Lightning on Feb. 24. He also contributed 2 steals and 1 block. Simms broke Cedric Hunter's record for CBA games played on Feb. 21, playing in his 467th CBA game.

THIS WEEK IN CBA HISTORY

On Feb. 26, 2000 Quad City Thunder guard Jeff McInnis was called up to the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. He went on to finish the year with the Clippers and in 2000-01 led the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.96-to-1). McInnis, the 2000 CBA MVP, is currently averaging 14.5 points and 5.9 assists as Los Angeles' starting point guard.

Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from February 26, 2002

• CBA weekly report - OSC Original by CBA Press Release

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