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January 21, 2011 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Rochester RazorSharks News Release


Rochester RazorSharks at Saint John Mill Rats

Friday, January 21, 2011

Harbour Station, Saint John, N.B.

6:05pm

The Matchup: Two Premier Basketball League teams headed in opposite directions clash in New Brunswick. The visiting RazorSharks come off two straight victories. The home standing Mill Rats have lost two straight.

The RazorSharks (2-2) are on a two game Canada road trip. They play at Quebec on Sunday. The Sharks come off a 107-101 victory over the highly regarded Kebs Saturday. Rochester spotted Quebec an early 17 point lead, rallying behind a 14-0 3rd and 4th quarter run.

Jerice Crouch scored a team high 18 points. He is one of just three in the league averaging 20 points or more. 7 foot center Jared Carter scored a season high 16 points for the Sharks and has played well in those back to back victories. Perry Stevenson with six blocked shots in four games leads the league in that category.

The RazorSharks added 6-10 forward Lorenzo Davis to the roster bringing size and strength up front. Rochester is currently sixth of eight PBL teams in rebounding per game.

The Mill Rats (1-3) are playing their first home season in Canada. This is their third home game. They were the Manchester (NH) Millrats (one word) last season and finished 6-14.

Saint John was outclassed in its last game at PBL champion Lawton-Fort Sill, trailing by 25 at half before losing 117-94. Marc Egerson led the Mill Rats against the Cavalry with 19 points. Anthony Anderson added 15. Jeff Ferguson had 14 points with a team leading 8 rebounds.

Egerson is second in the league averaging 20.5 points per game. Edgerson is also second in the PBL with 7.25 assists per game.

Saint John is last in the PBL in field goal percentage (41.5%) while at the same time, ranking first with 24 assists per game.

Of note: In Egerson, Anderson and Terry Martin, the Mill Rats have three of the league's top seven scorers, all averaging better than 17 points per game.

Of note: The PBL will be the sixth minor basketball league in the United States for Rochester newcomer Lorenzo Davis. Davis claims the level of play in the new league is better than the D-League, CBA, IBL, ABA and UBA. Davis also played in Mexico.

Of note: Jerice Crouch became the fourth Rochester RazorShark to score 1000 points with the team. All-time leader Keith Friel, still active, surpassed 2200 on opening night. James Reaves and Demond Stewart are the other two 1000 point scorers.

On television: PBL games can be seen via atSportsTV. http://atsportstv.com/WatchLive.aspx

Quotable: Rochester's Jerice Crouch on becoming a 1000 point scorer, "It means that I've been here for a long time. It's a great feat to be able to be consistent over the last four years. That's what it represents for me."

Shark Bytes / The Long Road to Rochester

Bill Pucko

1/19/11

He is 27 year old Lorenzo Davis. The newest Rochester RazorShark is a well traveled professional basketball gypsy.

A 6-10 forward out of Fort Valley State in Georgia where he graduated with a degree in communications, Davis has seen time in the NBA Developmental League, Continental Basketball Association, the International Basketball League, the American Basketball Association and the United Basketball Association. He is now looking forward to playing his first game in the Premier Basketball League as a Shark.

"This is pretty much the best team I've been on since I've been playing professional basketball," said Davis. "I've been in the D-League, the CBA and everywhere. This is the best group I've been with. They're so helpful, everybody talks with each other, there's good camaraderie on the team. It's a good system."

Rochester had just fallen to 0-2 with a loss at Kentucky on January 6th. RazorShark coach Rod Baker returned to his hotel room to find a note from Davis waiting for him.

"He must have watched the game on line," said Baker. "He sent me an introductory email. He said, 'I can help. This is what I do. This is how I play.'

He said, 'Two people you can call to ask about me, are (former UCLA and D-League coach) Jim Harrick and (former NBA star) Jalen Rose.' Both guys that I know. I called Coach Harrick first and he had nothing but glowing things to say about him. Jalen was the same way."

After seeing Davis for the first time, Baker says he was sold on the player inside of an hour.

"He brings energy, rebounds. He can defend a couple of positions. The thing he's done so far, he's made Eric Walton better. He's brought out the competitive side of Walton against someone his size."

You don't play in as many places as Davis without a few stories. His favorite comes from the IBL with Los Angeles in 2009.

"We played the Las Vegas Pride," said Davis. We were down 27 at halftime. The owner said, 'I'll get you something for you guys if you win.' So we came back from 27 down to win by 24. The owner got us a big limo and in the limo he had whatever you could think of."

Davis will make the trip north with the RazorSharks (2-2) who play at St. John (1-3) on Friday and Quebec (3-2) Sunday.

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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.

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