Exciting action in opening night of CBA playoffs
Published on March 11, 2008 under Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release
ALBANY, NY (March 11, 2008) - The CBA opened up the 2008 Playoffs with two exciting and well-played contests. In the play-in game, the host Pittsburgh Xplosion defeated the East Kentucky Miners 129-121 to move on to face the American Conference Champion Minot Skyrockets. In the National Conference, the Oklahoma Cavalry defeated the CBA defending champion Yakama Sun Kings 101-99.
In Pittsburgh, the Miners ran out to a 17 point lead, 42-25 in the first half but led by only 3, 54-51 at the half. The Xplosion managed to capture the lead 85-84 after the third quarter, before pulling away to a 129-121 win. All-Star John DeGroat was huge, scoring a team high 31 points in the victory. Albert White had 21 points, Chaz McCrommon had 20 points and Lincoln Glass chipped in with 19 points. Jason McLeish had a game high 34 points for the Miners in defeat. James "Boo" Jackson had 27 points and 15 rebounds, while Mike Dean had 18 points and Josh Pace 17 points for East Kentucky.
The Xplosion now travel to Minot to take on the Skyrockets. Games 1 and 2 will take place on March 17 and 18 in Minot. Game 3, if necessary, will be in Pittsburgh on March 20. This date change is due to the lack of arena availability in Pittsburgh.
In Lawton, Oklahoma the Cavalry hosted a CBA Playoff game for the first time since April 22, 1997 when the Oklahoma City Cavalry defeated the Florida Beachdogs 104-92 in Game 5 of the Championship series. The Cavalry started where Oklahoma City left off, defeating Yakama 101-99 in Game 1 of the National Conference Championship Series. The Cavalry held a lead of as many as 22 points with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Sun Kings managed to roar back to take a three-point lead with only ten seconds remaining in the contest. However, Curtis Haywood was fouled in the act of shooting from behind the three-point line for the Cavalry. Haywood managed to make only two free throws to cut the deficit to one. The Cavalry fouled Tim Ellis with nine seconds left, and Ellis hit one of two to put the Sun Kings back up two, 99-97.
After a time out the Cavalry ran a perfect give and go to Haywood who tied the score at 99 with only six seconds on the clock. The Sun Kings advanced the ball to half court to try a last second shot. The Sun Kings never got that shot off as Brandon Dean stole the inbound pass and was fouled. Dean made both free throws to give the lead back to Oklahoma 101-99. With one last chance, the Sun Kings turned to Tim Ellis but he was unable to convert a 5-foot runner and the Cavalry won 101-99.
The series now travels to Yakama for game 2 on March 14.
Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from March 11, 2008
- Cavs edge out Sun Kings to win first playoff game - Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry
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- Xplosion beat Miners, Advance to Conference Finals - Pittsburgh Xplosion
- CBA Playoffs Kick Off Tonight - CBA 1
- CBA Announces Playoff Schedule - Minot Skyrockets
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