Sports stats



PBL Finals Set to Begin

April 14, 2011 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Rochester RazorSharks News Release


Game Day 24 / PBL Finals

Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry at Rochester RazorSharks

Rochester Community War Memorial

Friday April 15, 2011 at 7:35pm

The Matchup: This is the first of a best-of-three game series for the fourth Premier Basketball League championship. It pits the regular season and defending champion Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry against the former two time champion Rochester RazorSharks. The series concludes with one or two games in Oklahoma Sunday and Monday nights.

The RazorSharks (14-9) got to their fourth consecutive championship series with a hard-fought three game semifinal series win over the Quebec Kebs. Playing with just eight, point guard Melvin Council played a career game scoring 36 points on 9 for 11 shooting from the floor and 17 of 18 from the foul line in Rochester's 129-122 win in the decisive contest.

Forward Mike Williams has been the Sharks most consistent player. Williams scored 19-20-17 in the three game series with Quebec. He rebounded 12-11-11. Over his last seven games Williams has a 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game average.

Starting point guard Jerice Crouch and forward Sammy Monroe return to action after missing the two playoff games in Quebec.

Rochester lost three of four games with the Cavalry this season. 99-86 loss at Lawton February 5; 102-98 loss in overtime in Rochester February 21; 93-91 win at Rochester on the Jerice Crouch to Eric Walton half court inbounds ally oop March 6; 85-80 loss at Lawton March 18.

The RazorSharks are 2-7 overall against the Cavalry. They are 0-6 in Oklahoma.

The Cavalry (20-3) defeated the Halifax Rainmen in the PBL semifinals to advance to the championship series. Lawton was pressed in that series, winning the first game in Halifax in overtime before losing game two by ten on its home court. After trailing at the half in game three, the Cavalry prevailed over the Rainmen 102-92 in the decisive third game.

Lawton has won championships in all three of its years in that city. The Cavalry won two titles in the Continental Basketball Association before moving to the Premier League in 2010. Lawton won the PBL last year crown in a three game series over Rochester.

Forward Gabe Freeman joined the Cavalry in mid March and played in just six regular season games. He has been Lawton's best player in the playoffs averaging 16.7points, second on the team to guard Eddie Smith who averaged 17.7. Freeman rebounded 33 in the three game series.

Of note: The Cavalry saw their 34 game home court winning streak snapped by Halifax in the semifinals last week.

Of note: Rochester has won 12 of 15 games since a 2-6 start to the 2011 PBL season.

Of note: The game will be televised on tape delay to the People's Republic of China and a potential audience of 100 million people. A Chinese broadcast crew is at tonight's game to record the sound track. The PBL recently completed negotiations on a contract to have 2012 games televised in China.

Quotable: Rochester coach Rod Baker, "Both these teams have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. We do what we do, they do what they do. You have to hope that you find eight quarters where what you do is better than what they do. Then you have a chance."

• Discuss this story on the Premier Basketball League message board...

Premier Basketball League Stories from April 14, 2011


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.

Other Recent Rochester RazorSharks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central