League Off To A Solid Start
April 12, 2005 - International Basketball League (IBL) News Release
Game 1: Des Moines Heat 131 winner over Waterloo Kings 129 in overtime. Tim Hardaway scored 45 points for Waterloo while 6 other Kings players finished in double figures in scoring. Five players for Des Moines Heat fouled out. Des Moines was led by Terrence McGee who finished with 31 points and Kurt Spurgeon and Merrill Andrews finished with 26 and 22 points respectively.
Game 2: Grand Rapids Flight 171 over Vancouver Volcanoes 122. Grand Rapids had nine players in double figures led by reserve Mike Dyson's 28 points. For Vancouver, Charles McKinney led Vancouver with 36 points.
Game 3: Youngstown Wildcats 114 winner over Akron Lightning 110. Leading scorers for the Youngstown Wildcats were Joe Lewandowski with 24 and Rick McFadden with 23. For the Akron Lightning Jason Edwin put in 31 points and 16 rebounds while Kevin Kovach put in 29 points with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Game 4: Grand Rapids Flight 143 vs Macomb County Mustangs 98. The Flight' second huge margin of victory in two days. IBL Commissioner Mikal Duilio- "having seen the Flight in person, this team is that talented... I have never seen anything like it in my 21 years of administrating basketball leagues. They are lightning quick but controlledâthey take only great shots and they get those great shots in about 7 seconds from the time they possess the ball". In Macomb County the game featured local sensation Carrie Newman singing the national anthem and former NBA player Terry Mills signing autographs. Leading scorers for the home teamâJD Austin with 17 and Michael Covington with 16 points.
Game 5: Battle Creek Knights 111 winner over Vancouver Volcanoes 100. Battle Creek were led in scoring by Mike Williams with 22 points and Bobby Madison chipped in 19 points. The game featured Michigan legends Kenyan Murray and Ben Reed. Vancouver (a team trying to redeem a huge loss from the night before) was led by Eric Dunn with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Charles McKinney with 17 points and 8 rebounds. This game had 3,346 fans in attendance.
Game 6: San Jose Ballers 104 beat the Oakland Slammers 100 in Oakland California. General Manager Kenny Parker and owner Ivan White said the fans loved what they considered a very entertaining game. Next Friday, the Oakland team looks to steal a road win at San Jose to even the score.
Game 7: Windy City Dawgs 108 over Waterloo Kings 106. Down one point with seconds to go and the Kings inbounding the ball with the lead, the Dawgs' Marlon London stole the inbounds pass near half court and immediately shot the ballâthe basket went in and the Dawgs won the game; London finished with 34 points. Leading scorers for the Waterloo Kings were Nelson Maisonet and Aaron Middendorf with 23 points apiece.
Game 8: Detroit Pros 146 winner over Vancouver Volcanoes 104. For Detroit, Larry Fisher and Aaron Bates had 20 apiece while featured players Albert White and Guy Rucker had 16 and 13 points respectively. Leading scorers for the Vancouver Volcanoes were Kevin Bloodsaw with 23 and Aaron McKinney with 20 points.
IBL League Commissioner Mikal Duilioâ"I was very pleased with the opening weekend numbers of spectators (275 in Detroit for a Sunday game to 3,346 in Battle Creek for a Saturday night event), but most importantly I am pleased with the actual experience that the spectators enjoyedâan IBL game move along and fans really liked it... kids enjoy the game because it is action packed and only lasts two hours. An IBL game is aesthetically pleasing and very athletic". The IBL scoring average after opening weekend is 118 points. Commissioner Duilioâ"I am also pleasantly surprised at the extremely high quality of play and the extremely high quality of officiating".
• Discuss this story on the International Basketball League message board...
International Basketball League Stories from April 12, 2005
- League Off To A Solid Start - IBL
- Dawgs win thriller on the road - Elgin Racers
- Dawgs to play first game this weekend - Elgin Racers
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.
