Anderson and Bellingham Slam Sweep Holiday Weekend Games

Published on May 30, 2014 under International Basketball League (IBL) News Release


Memorial Day weekend was kind to the Bellingham Slam and 6'3" G Morris Anderson as they avenged early season losses against Vancouver and Portland. As a result, Anderson snagged Player of the Week honors presented by Prink Technologies, and the Slam head to Southern California with a six game win streak intact.

Anderson's three game holiday weekend concluded with Monday's performance where he nearly finished perfect shooting the ball. The fifth-year Slam player tallied 29 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor, and 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Anderson cashed in on 6-of-7 free throws as well. It was the fifth time in nine games that Anderson scored 20 points or more this season.

"Going into the games we knew it was going to be a big set. We wanted to win and make up for our early losses to both teams," Anderson commented. The reigning back-to-back champion Slam suffered consecutive defeats to Vancouver and Portland earlier this season. However, the Slam managed to win three straight over the holiday weekend, and situate themselves atop the standings of the IBL.

Anderson has played a large role in Bellingham's ability to reel off six straight wins following those back-to-back losses against Vancouver and Portland. "Coming into the season I was way more confident. I knew that I wanted to improve coming off last season, which wasn't my best. During the off-season I played in local leagues and worked on my three point shot, but I've also been able to find my spots out on the floor this season thanks to my teammates," Anderson added.

Anderson is the second straight player from Bellingham to pick up Player of the Week honors, after 6'5" C Blake Poole picked up the award last week.

Anderson, Poole and the Slam head to Southern California for three games and will kick things off against the West Coast Pro Basketball League's Venice Beach Warriors on Friday.

IBL week five game recaps

The long holiday weekend provided no shortage of entertaining basketball with the Bellingham Slam picking up a pair of big road wins and the Portland Chinooks adding to their win column against an I-5 rival.

On May 23, the Slam dominated the Chinooks 106-86, led by Blake Poole's 33 points and 16 rebounds in the game. Poole also got help from Morris Anderson, 6'4" G Jacob Stevenson and 6'3" G Sam Freeman, whom all scored in double figures. 6'9" F Jared Cunningham and 6'6" F Jermaine Blackburn of Portland tried to keep it close, putting up 20 points each, but Bellingham proved to be too tough in the match-up.

The Slam continued their road trip on May 24 by beating the Vancouver Volcanoes 134-122, and were led by Jacob Stevenson's 30 points. Morris Anderson came close to a triple-double with 19 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Blake Poole contributed 19 points and 9 rebounds as well. 6'2" G Andre Murray of the Volcanoes led the game with 34 points, but it was not enough to beat the Slam.

Also on May 24, Portland defeated the Salem Sabres 110-91 despite the new additions the Sabres made to their roster. Chinooks 6'6" F Germain Jordan had 33 points and 6'3" G Justin Steinke totaled 26 points, followed by 17 points from forward Jared Cunningham.

On Memorial Day, the Slam defeated the Volcanoes 127-110 to take sole possession of first place in the IBL standings. Morris Anderson led the way with 29 points, followed by Sam Freeman's 24 points. 6'10 C Calvin Hampton and 6'6" F Adam Herman of the Volcanoes both had double-doubles in the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 20 points, 10 rebounds, respectively.

Chinooks Owner Terry Emmert embraces unique balancing act

Terry Emmert is the proud owner of two of Portland's pro sports teams.

Owning two different professional franchises could be looked as a huge challenge, but for Terry Emmert, founder of Emmert International, the opportunity has been an exciting endeavor thus far.

In addition to the Portland Chinooks (an original member of the IBL since 2004), Emmert's newest franchise, the Portland Thunder are in the midst of their inaugural season in the AFL (Arena Football League). Having the two franchises play regular season games simultaneously can certainly lend itself to a lot work tracking each team's progress, but Emmert has been up to the challenge.

"It's a lot of fun having two different franchises playing right now, especially with the Portland Chinooks doing so well. We have had two weekends where we won all of our games between the two franchises which we hope can continue," Emmert says.

Despite the travel due to the Thunder's inaugural season schedule, Emmert has kept track of the Portland Chinooks opening stretch, and is quite pleased. "The team is playing together, and as a single unit which has been important for this season's early success. It's great to have guys like Jared Cunningham and Germain Jordan, who are both having great years," Emmert adds.

As Emmert noted, 6'9" F Jared Cunningham and 6'6" F Germain Jordanhave been instrumental in guiding the Chinooks to their 6-2 start, but Head Coach Trevor Kiser's group also boasts one of the deepest benches in the IBL. In addition to their rock solid roster, there's hope that one of Portland's most prized players may return soon as well.

6'9'' F Kevin Ford is currently in the middle of a playoff run with his team overseas, but once he wraps up his season abroad, Ford is likely to return to the Portland Chinooks lineup. Emmert looks forward to gaining another quality player such as Ford, who has spent the past three seasons with the club. "We'd love to have him (Ford) back with us, it would only add to our talented roster."

Similar to roster turnover, Emmert is familiar with the all of the challenges involved in making an IBL championship run, and has also experienced some of the hurdles unique to the AFL with his Portland Thunder team this season. "We've had the toughest schedule in the AFL, we have had some Monday night games and it has been a real challenge. However, we're really happy though, we have 16 rookies and 9 players that are homegrown. Overall, it's a tremendous opportunity," Emmert comments.

Emmert realizes that there might be something special brewing with his Chinooks team this season. "I think we have a high possibility to win the championship this season. Everyone is in good physical shape and we've had little to no injuries," Emmert concludes.

Emmert's Chinooks will host their rivals from across the river, the Vancouver Volcanoes, on June 1. All the action can be seen at the Eastmoreland Courts beginning at 5:00pm.

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International Basketball League Stories from May 30, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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