Kankakee Can't Contain Slam in 179-100 Blowout
June 27, 2011 - International Basketball League (IBL)
Bellingham Slam News Release
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-Records came tumbling down as the Bellingham Slam made quick and easy work of the Kankakee Soldiers, routing them 179-100 in an International Basketball League laugher at Whatcom Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
The Slam, who finished the regular season with a 14-5 record and a perfect 9-0 mark at the Pavilion, set new team records for most points scored in a game and also largest margin of victory, with the 79-point gap besting the old mark of 61, set in a 149-88 win against the Japan Tornadoes on May 9, 2009. Previously, the Slam's highest offensive output had been 174 points in a rout of the Las Vegas Stars on May 30, 2008.
Bellingham, which established a 20-point first quarter lead before the largest Pavilion crowd of the season got settled in, actually saw their offensive production increase each quarter as the game progressed, posting 42 points in the first period and maxing out with 48 points in the fourth.
A 17-2 Slam run in the late stages of the second quarter helped put the home team ahead 85-38 heading into halftime.
Bellingham was relentless in the third quarter, as even with the bench emptied the Slam went up by 50, at 102-52, with 7:26 left and later surged ahead by 60 in the final minute of the quarter, at 129-69.
The start of the fourth quarter proved to be the Paul Hafford show, as he scored the Slam's first 14 points of the quarter in quick fashion, draining four three-pointers and adding a lay-up in a 90-second span to put Bellinghamup 70, at 145-75.
Hafford finished his big night with a game-high 36 points, one point shy of the high-water mark for any Slam leading scorer this season. 30 of his points came by way of a team-record ten three-point shots.
Tyler Amaya, playing in his third game of the season to make himself playoff-eligible, just missed a triple-double with totals of 16 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists.
T.J. Jackson led a depleted Kankakeesquad with 28 points.
The Slam now head to Vancouver, Wash., for the IBL Championship Tournament, set to begin on Friday. Bellinghamwon't know its seeding or opponent until Wednesday, as they wait for other teams to finish out the IBL's regular season.
The Slam currently hold the top spot in the league with a 14-5 record, but the second- and third-place teams, Edmonton and Albany, respectively, both have 13-5 records and two games remaining. A loss by either team in their final two contests would assure the Slam of no worse then an second-place ranking at the tournament and would be awarded a first-round bye.
The start time and opponent of the Slam's first playoff game will be announced on the IBL's website at www.iblhoopsonline.com on Wednesday evening.
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International Basketball League Stories from June 27, 2011
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- Kankakee Can't Contain Slam in 179-100 Blowout - Bellingham Slam
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