Steelheads host Lightning Thursday
Published on December 8, 2005 under Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Gary Steelheads News Release
The Gary Steelheads host the Rockford Lightning tonight at the Genesis Center in a battle for supremacy in the CBA's Eastern Conference. The Lightning currently lead the Steelheads by 1/10th of a quarterpoint.
The teams have met twice previously this season, with each team winning on the other team's home floor. The Lightning spoiled the Steelheads' season opener with a 106-100 win at the Genesis Center on Friday, November 18th. Two days later, the Steelheads spoiled the Lightning's home opener with a 113-106 win at the Rockford MetroCentre. Guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter tossed in a season-high 40 points in that win.
Gary narrowly surrendered first place in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night, losing to the Yakama Sun Kings at the Genesis Center. Randy Holcomb scored a CBA career-high 32 points in the defeat, along with 8 rebounds. "Snap" Hunter and Brian Chase added 18 points each in defeat. The game marked the return of Shelly Clark to the Steelheads' roster. The Gary career rebounding leader scored 6 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in 29 minutes.
The Rockford Lightning have not played since Saturday night, when they fell to the Idaho Stampede at the Qwest Center in Boise. Roger Powell paced the Lightning with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Ronnie Fields added 20 points with 2 assists and a steal. The Lightning have lost two straight, but still maintain the best record in the Eastern Conference at 5-3.
Fish Hooks
- Tonight's game is the 51st meeting between the Steelheads and the Lightning, with Rockford holding a 30-20 edge. Last year, the teams met 11 times with Gary winning 4. This year, the teams have split two previous meetings.
- The Steelheads moved to further strengthen their front line by signing 6-8 Kevin Frey, a CBA veteran who previously played with the Lightning and the Great Lakes Storm during the 2002-03 season. Frey has played extensively overseas, including tours of duty in Sweden (All-Swedish Team) and Germany (All-Bundesliga second team). A college standout at Xavier, Frey played in a Muskateer record 130 games over his four-year career. In order to make room for Frey, the Steelheads released guard Cedric Moodie.
- The Steelheads surrendered the lead in the CBA's Eastern Conference, following their 102-99 loss to the Yakama Sun Kings. Going into tonight's game, Rockford has a quarter point average of 3.9, while the Steelheads sit at 3.8.
- The addition of Shelly Clark to the Steelheads' roster had an immediate impact on team rebounding. For only the second time in nine games this season, Gary outrebounded its opponent (Gary 53-Yakama 41). Prior to Clark's arrival, the Steelheads were outrebounded by 34 in a game against the Dakota Wizards. Amazingly, they managed to win the game in overtime, 137-127.
- The Steelheads committed a season-high 21 turnovers in their loss to Yakama on Tuesday. On the season, Gary has reduced its turnovers from last year's average of 20 per game to 13.9.
- The Steelheads are shooting a lofty .468 from three point range. Gary has averaged over 8 three-pointers per game this year.
- Rookie coach Jaren Jackson has lead the Gary Steelheads to a winning record in the opening weeks of the 2005-06 CBA season. He started the season with only one returning player from last year's team, and with the loss of three Gary players that appeared in last year's CBA All-Star Game. With the return of Shelly Clark, a second player has been added from last year's team to the roster. Clark appeared in the CBA All-Star Game the past two years.
- The Rockford Lightning average 113.5 points per game on the season. They are outrebounding their opponents by 9.5 rpg., and they are shooting .513 from the floor. The are holding opponents to .484 field goal shooting.
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