Steelheads Look To Extend Streak
February 14, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Gary Steelheads News Release
The Gary Steelheads travel to the MetroCentre in Rockford to take on the Lightning in a battle of Eastern Conference leaders Tuesday night. The Steelheads, currently in second place in the East, enter the game with a six-game win streak and a 22-15 record. Both are high water marks for the season.
The Steelheads capped a successful week with back-to-back wins over the Albany Patroons last Friday and Saturday night, 126-101 and 127-97. Each victory generated six quarter points for the winners. Earlier in the week, the Steelheads were victorious in an overtime thriller at Rockford a week ago Tuesday night 127-124.
All Star guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter had an outstanding week, scoring 101 points in three games. Most prominent among his performances was a 41-point, 10-rebound effort at the Rockford MetroCentre. He added twin 30-point games against the Patroons. In the process, Hunter became the first CBA player to pass the 1,000-point scoring barrier. He pulled within four points of breaking the Steelheads' single-season scoring record of 1,022, held by former Gary all star Bryant Notree (2002-03). For his efforts, he was named CBA Player of the Week for the third time this season.
During the current win streak, the Steelheads have closed what was a considerable gap between themselves and Rockford. Prior to the streak, the Lightning possessed a 4.5 quarter point average, while the Steelheads weighed in at 3.6. Going into Tuesday night's game, Rockford has a 4.2 average while Gary sits at 4.0.
The Steelheads will provide a broadcast origination of this important road game, which will air over the SportsJuice web site on the Internet (www.sportsjuice.com).
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- Tonight's game is the 58th CBA meeting between these Eastern Conference rivals, with the Lightning having a 32-25 edge. This is the 10th meeting between the two teams this season, with Gary having a 6-3 lead. Gary has won twice in Rockford, and the Lightning have won once in Gary this season. The last meeting between the two teams took place at the MetroCentre on Tuesday, February 7th. In one of the most exciting games of the CBA's 60th Anniversary Season, the Steelheads came back from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win in overtime, 127-124. - Guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter has scored 1,019 points for the season, the only player in the league to crack the 1,000 point barrier so far. He scored 101 points in 3 games last week, placing him just 4 points away from breaking Bryant Notree's single-season individual scoring record of 1,022 points. Notree, a college standout at UIC who now is an assistant coach with the Dakota Wizards, set the record during the 2002-2003 season. - "Snap" Hunter leads the CBA in scoring with a 27.5 ppg. average. He now has logged three of the CBA's top five individual game scoring performances this year, including a 50-point effort at Albany and two 41-point efforts at Rockford. "Snap" ranks among the league leaders in assists (5.4 apg.), steals (1.9 spg.), three point shooting (.432) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg.). Once again this week, "Snap" was named the CBA Player of the Week. He is the only player in the league to honored with this award three times. - Steelheads' coach Jaren Jackson believes "Snap" is ready for the NBA. "Snap has proven that he belongs in the NBA," said Jackson, an NBA veteran himself. "He has improved his defensive game to compliment his great scoring ability. Since the beginning of this season, he has shown that he is the best guard in the CBA. I am happy to have been a part of his improved play this season. I have been in awe of Snap's basketball skills since becoming his coach. I mention him in the same light as many of the top NBA guards I played against in my own NBA career. Any NBA team will be lucky to have him." - On February 1st, 2006, the Steelheads traded forward Edmund Saunders to the Albany Patroons for All Star forward Carl Mitchell. Mitchell is one of the more intriguing players in the CBA, possessing quickness, strength and shooting skill. He currently averages 13.7 ppg. and ranks 5th in the CBA in rebounding at 8.6 rpg. During the season he has ranked among the leading three point shooters in the league, currently hitting at a .412 clip. Mitchell also shoots .511 from the field and .783 from the foul line. Against the Lightning last Saturday night. Mitchell picked up his first double-double in a Steelheads' uniform with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Three days later, he added another double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Lightning in Rockford. He hit 10-of-11 shots from the field. - Center Chris Alexander had a streak of four straight double-double ballgames, stopped by the Rockford Lightning at the Genesis Center a week ago Saturday night. He now has six double-doubles on the season, second best on the team. During his double-double string, he averaged 13.3 ppg. and 12.3 rpg. Since joining the Steelheads, Alexander has averaged 9.4 ppg. and 10.6 rebounds. He currently ranks second in CBA offensive rebounding at 3.6 rpg, ranks second in the CBA in overall rebounding at 9.2 rpg., and he is third in the league in blocked shots at 1.6 bpg. - The Steelheads received a big lift as the second half of the CBA season began. Forward Randy Holcomb finished a ten-day call-up with the Chicago Bulls prior to the All Star Game. He flew to Boise for the mid-season classic and was named the game's MVP, the first player in Steelheads' history to earn an MVP award in the mid-season classic. Holcomb earned the honor, even though his Eastern team fell to the Western stars, 119-110. The 6-foot-8 forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a losing cause. The last player cut in the Chicago Bulls' training camp, Holcomb ranked 9th in the CBA in scoring (20.2 ppg.) and 7th in the league in rebounding (7.8 rpg.) when he was signed to a 10-day contract. His seven double-doubles leads the team. He tied his CBA career high of 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Albany victory Saturday night. - Guard Brian Chase now ranks second in the CBA in three-point shooting with a .470 percentage. He is the league's leading free throw shooter at .953, having hit 61-of-64 on the year. His 32 point performance at Rockford a week ago Tuesday was a career high. Chase hit 7-of-13 three pointers against the Lighning, including the game winner. - Don't look now, but guard Lonnie Randolph is starting on a roll. The Steelheads' rookie turned in 17 solid minutes a week ago Friday night in the victory over the Rockford Lightning. Randolph scored a career best 8 points, with 4 assists and 3 rebounds. He also had a steal and a blocked shot. - The Steelheads' victory over the Lightning last Friday night marks the second time this year that Gary has broken a Lightning win streak. Friday night's win broke an 8-game streak, while the Steelheads' 118-102 win over the Lightning on December 30th ended a 7-game streak for the Bolts. - The Steelheads adjusted their roster last Thursday by releasing forwards Kevin Frey and Darius Rice. They named former Chicago Bulls forward Cliff Levingston to fill their vacant assistant coaching position. Levingston played on the Chicago Bulls' first two championship teams and was a fan favorite. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1982 NBA Draft, going ninth in the first round. He retired from the game in 1995. In 2000, Levingston began his coaching career as an assistant coach in the CBA with the Ft. Wayne Fury. In 2001, he served as an assistant coach with the Dodge City Legend of the USBL. After a year as a college assistant at St. Francis, he returned to Dodge City as head coach. His Legend team won the USBL title, and Levingston was named USBL Coach of the Year. During 2003-04, Levingston served as an assistant for the Harlem Globe Trotters. Last season, he coached the St. Louis Flight of the ABA. - The Rockford Lightning have been hard to beat at home, boasting an excellent 15-3 record. Two of those losses have been to the Steelheads. The Lightning have a winning record against every team in the league, except for Gary and Yakama. They have won all 15 meetings with Michigan and Albany, and have beaten Idaho 3-of-4.
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