Lightning Score Largest Margin of Victory Ever
March 7, 2003 - Continental Basketball Association 2 (CBA 2)
Rockford Lightning News Release
(March 6th âRockford, IL) The Sioux Falls Skyforce scored the final 11 points of Thursday night's CBA game at the MetroCentre, but that still didn't stop the Lightning from recording a their largest margin of victory in their 17 seasons in Rockford.
It was the largest weeknight crowd of the season, and 3516 fans were treated to a total team effort by the home team. The Lightning won all 7 quarters and built the lead to as much as 55 points before the Skyforce's game ending 11-0 run made the final score 144-100.
Albert White broke out of a three game shooting slump with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and White received a lot of support from his teammates. Seven different players scored at least 14 points, 6 different players had at least 3 steals, 5 different players dished out at least 4 assists, and all 10 players on the Lightning roster grabbed at least 3 rebounds.
The Lightning won the battle of the boards 67-45, the turnover margin 37-22 and the steals battle 24-11. As a result the Lightning put up 111 shots, 24 more than their opponent. It's the second time this season the Lightning has earned all 7 quarter points and it surpasses by 2 points, the franchise record for margin of victory. The Lightning previously recorded 42-point victories on January 16th of this year and on December 15th of 2001. Both of those wins came against the Gary Steelheads.
Former Rockford Lightning player Kelley McClure led the Skyforce with 24 points. Ronnie Fields and Marshall Phillips each added 21 points to the Lightning cause. The Bolts, who has not lost a home game since January 19th, wrap up their regular season on the MetroCentre floor. Rockford will look to get to 10-1 this season against Great Lakes in a Saturday 1:05 start. The Lightning wrap up their regular season Sunday at 7:05 against Dakota in what could be a battle for the best overall record in the CBA. Tickets for either game can be purchased by calling the Lightning office at 874-4232.
WHO WILL WE PLAY?: We've reached the final 3 days of the CBA's regular season and the Lighnting's American Conference Finals' playoff opponent is still in doubt. The Grand Rapids Hoops took all 7 quarter points in Wednesday night's 116-91 win over the Yakima Sun Kings. The Hoops now lead the Gary Steelheads by 3 quarter points and each team has two games remaining. The Steelheads and Hoops play each other Friday night in Gary. The Hoops magic number stands at 11 meaning any combination of quarters won by the Hoops or quarters lost by the Steelheads equaling 11 and Grand Rapids will clinch that final American Conference playoff spot. If Grand Rapids takes 6 of the 7 quarter points Friday against Gary, they will clinch the post-season berth (6 quarters won by Grand Rapids plus 6 quarters lost by Gary would equal 12 and surpass the Hoops magic number of 11). If Gary wins the game and takes 5 of the 7 quarter points, then the two teams would be tied heading into the final game of the season. Grand Rapids hosts Sioux Falls on Saturday while Gary hosts Dakota on Saturday. If the two teams finished the season with the same amount of quarter points, Grand Rapids would earn the playoff spot because they own the first tiebreaker which is head to head quarter points this season. The Hoops lead the Steelheads 39.5-30.5 so even if Gary were to win all 7 quarter points in Friday's contest with Grand Rapids, they would still have less head-to-head quarter points than the Hoops on the season.
Continental Basketball Association 2 Stories from March 7, 2003
- Gary Ties up Race Heading into Finale - Grand Rapids Hoops
- Lightning Score Largest Margin of Victory Ever - Rockford Lightning
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