Gill's Big Game helps Panthers Claw Battle Creek
March 1, 2009 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Detroit Panthers News Release
Detroit, MI- Randy Gill made his case for a second consecutive Player of the Week honor with 35 points, 14 assists and seven boards, and Detroit withstood a furious rally by Battle Creek as the Panthers upset the Knights 110-108.
Detroit established themselves early leading 27-13 after one and 62-44 at the break. When Chuck Bailey hit one of two free throws just moments into the second half, the Detroit lead was 20, but then the rally started for the Knights as they outscored Detroit by 18 in the last 21:32 of the contest.
The Knights rally would fall short as Randy Gill hit a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch, and the Panthers defense, which had struggled in the fourth quarter, tightened up on Kenny Langhorne and Florentino Valencia in the last minute to pull off the upset victory.
The Panthers defense tightened up on Knights' leading scorer Colecio Buie who was held to only three points in 17 minutes of action. Langhorne was held to just 11 on 4-10 shooting.
Aside from Gill's performance, Detroit got 20 from Stanes Bufford and Chuck Bailey and Walter Waters pulled down 15 and 11 boards respectively.
Up next for Detroit is a home contest against Chicago on Thursday night, while Battle Creek looks to break their two game losing streak against the Throwbacks on Saturday evening. Detroit is now 4-9 while Battle Creek drops to 13-2.
Notes: Detroit outrebounded Battle Creek 51-42 and had 15 more assists than the Knights. The bench of Battle Creek outscored Detroit's 77-21.
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