Tough Loss for the Home Team with a Positive Outlook
June 30, 2014 - International Basketball League (IBL)
Vancouver Volcanoes News Release
Vancouver, WA - T he energetic crowd at Clark College delivered their best effort to help their team cut the lead down, in a rematch of last season's IBL finals. Bellingham earned the victory 143-126.
"They are really good, every time we tried to make a defensive adjustment, they just came out and made a three pointer," the 2014 IBL Coach of the Year exposed. "When teams shoot that well it's hard to defend, we tried to go big and switch things up defensively, but give Bellingham all the credit in the world, they just played better than us tonight. They deserve to win the Championship, I respect their organization and how they run it, very similar to ours" the class act Coach complimented their opponent now three-peat IBL title holder Bellingham Slam.
The Volcanoes won the last meeting on the Slam's home court in overtime thriller 139-137, but tonight 2014 IBL MVP 6'2" G Andre Murray put up 31 points and 11 rebounds for his team playing 40 minutes, but it wasn't quite enough for the five time all star and his Volcanoes to pull out the win for a title this season.
"I'm proud of my whole team, these guys aren't just my players they are my friends, I am close with all of them and they are all close with each other," Coach Navarro shared. "It hurts right now. But it's good for them to get this kind of experience and play in a championship game. A lot of these guys play overseas for not that great of teams, and for their careers and their experience it really is invaluable to get this sort of exposure."
Vancouver did battle throughout the contest, but never were able to capture the lead at any point. As much as Bellingham enjoyed success from three point range, Vancouver struggled only hitting 32.1% of their shots.
With one championship to their credit, the Volcanoes will return to the court next season for another title run and were a great host to the IBL Playoffs, showing appreciation to their fans signing autographs and photos even after a tough loss on their home court.
International Basketball League Stories from June 30, 2014
- Terry Emmert: a True Rock Star - Portland Chinooks
- Tough Loss for the Home Team with a Positive Outlook - Vancouver Volcanoes
- Slam Take Third Straight IBL Championship with 143-126 Win over Vancouver - Bellingham Slam
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