Slam rebound with 115-100 win over Olympia
Published on May 7, 2011 under International Basketball League (IBL)
Bellingham Slam News Release
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Bellingham Slam rebounded from their first home loss of the season by defeating the Olympia Reign, 115-100, in an International Basketball League game at Whatcom Pavilion on Saturday.
The Slam lost to open the weekend, a 139-134 setback to the West Coast Hotshots in a game played at Lynden High School on Friday.
Bellingham started out the game extremely sluggish, allowing Olympia to build an early 11-point lead, at 22-11, midway through the first quarter. But the Slam came alive and trimmed the deficit to two at the end of the frame, and took their first lead, at 25-24, on a second quarter-opening three point shot by Derrick Webb. Webb finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
The Slam began to pull away in the second quarter, building their lead as high as 14, before the Reign were able to narrow the gap in the closing stages of the period to give the Slam a 56-49 halftime lead.
Olympia refused to let the Slam pull away in the third quarter, and twice narrowed the margin to three points in the final three minutes. Bellingham continued to lead going into the fourth quarter, at 80-74.
After a Virgil Matthews three-pointer got the Reign within two, at 91-89 with 8:19 left, the Slam executed a 16-2 run over the four minutes to make the score 111-95. A pair of three-point shots by Paul Hafford helped spark the game-deciding run.
Hafford led the Slam with 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting. Jacob Stevenson was third-best behind Webb with 20 points. Lukas Henne posted a second straight double-double with ten points and 15 rebounds.
Virgil Matthews led four Olympia players in double figures with 29 points.
The Slam return to action on Friday, May 13 as they host the league-leading Oregon Waves. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Whatcom Pavilion.
International Basketball League Stories from May 7, 2011
- Slam rebound with 115-100 win over Olympia - Bellingham Slam
- Legends win over Waves - IBL
- Hotshots outlast Slam, 139-134 - Bellingham Slam
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