Miners dash Blazers, improve to 9-0
January 12, 2009 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
East Kentucky Miners News Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. - The visiting East Kentucky Miners gradually pulled away from the West Virginia Blazers Sunday in another CBA-ABA matchup. East Kentucky, playing on the road versus host West Virginia at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, pulled following a strong second half effort. Jermaine Blackburn scored 20 of his 31 points in the third quarter as the Miners defeated the Blazers 123-100 and improved to 9-0.
Mike Dean hit five three-point field goals and led East Kentucky with a game-high 35 points. As a team, East Kentucky drained nine three-pointers. Blackburn hit a pair of three-point field goals for the Miners.
A much improved team, West Virginia swapped leads with East Kentucky in the first half. West Virginia edged East Kentucky 24-23 in the opening quarter. But the Miners eventually heated up. East Kentucky carried a 52-51 lead into halftime and outscored host West Virginia 39-28 in the third quarter.
East Kentucky was able to overcome the sub-par first half effort.
"In the end, the guys stepped up," East Kentucky Coach Kevin Keathley commented following his team's hard-fought road win.
Delvin Thomas added 13 points for the Miners. Second-year East Kentucky players Jason McLeish and Mike Crain added 11 points apiece.
Cedric Brown led West Virginia with 20 points. Five different Blazers reached double figures in the scoring column. Desi Crisp scored 18 points and Maurice Davis dumped in 16 for the Blazers.
West Virginia fell to 1-8 following the loss.
East Kentucky had defeated five different ABA teams for its nine wins. The Miners are gearing up for CBA competition.
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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from January 12, 2009
- Miners dash Blazers, improve to 9-0 - East Kentucky Miners
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