Unbeaten Knights Battle Past Panthers

January 31, 2009 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Battle Creek Knights News Release


Detroit, MI - If it wasn't a rivalry before, it is a rivalry now.

The Detroit Panthers, looking to put a stop to a pair of streaks - one being their own and the other belonging to the Battle Creek Knights - put on a gutsy display of basketball Saturday night, only to come up short on both counts in dropping a 119-106 PBL matchup at Birmingham Groves High School.

The game was a physical affair, resulting in three technicals and three ejections, two on the part of the Knights. Jason Arbet of Battle Creek and Chuck Bailey of Detroit exchanged words and engaged in some pushing and shoving midway through the second period and were quickly sent to the showers. Then in the third quarter, Chris Gaines was tossed after some trash-talking following a steal and two-handed jam.

The ejections provided a greater spark on the side of the Knights than the Panthers as the visitors overcame a sluggish first quarter by posting scoring edges of 32-19 and 39-33 in the second and third periods, respectively.

"We've got 12 guys on this basketball team that can flat-out play, and when we seem to see some adversity out there, the guys really pull together," Battle Creek coach Terry Sare said. " I think that gave us quite a bit of energy when that situation happened."

Seeing a 14-point advantage after one quarter turn into a five-point deficit after three, the Panthers couldn't come up with enough stops in the fourth to get back into the game. Buckets from Kenny Langhorne, one being a trey, and a 3-point play from Jeremy File, built a 12-point Battle Creek lead and sent the Panthers down to their fourth defeat in a row and fifth in seven games overall.

"It's tough," Panthers coach Bill Jones said of his team's latest defeat. "That's the one thing about basketball, you've got to find out what it is and you've got to correct it. You got to be a problem-solver.

"Last week we worked hard on defense and we started out the game playing good defense," Jones continued. "But that third quarter hurt us again. We weren't aggressive and we're not doing what it takes."

Brian Woodland topped the Panthers in scoring with 20 points. Kyle Johnson drained a trio of 3-pointers en route to scoring 17 and newly-acquired big man Walter Waters played solidly and bagged 15 points.

Langhorne grabbed the game's scoring honors with 23. Allen White followed with 18 and File and Valencia Florentino chipped in 16 apiece as the Knights remained perfect on the year at 7-0.

The end of the game didn't bring an end to the excitement though, as coaches and players from both teams engaged in some heated words.

"You get a team like that and they have a coach like that - they're a good team , play well together - and then you get the unprofessionalism," Jones said, referring to the wishes on the part of the Knights to inform everyone in the building they were indeed still undefeated. "With that you got to keep your cool. In professional basketball you're a leader of men. You don't come out and try to egg on the other team. I've been a professional basketball player 17 years and I've never seen a coach come out and say we're 7-0. This is a league trying to be a classy league. What goes around comes around."

"We are 7-0 and we appreciate that," Sare said. "Guys really understand what it takes to compete at this level every night. We got the bull's-eye on our back and we've got to bring our 'A' game.

"It's kind of a little rivalry already and that's a good thing," he added. "It's good for the league and it's good for the teams because it gives you something to play for when you get together again."

That would be Friday, Feb. 20, in Battle Creek.



Premier Basketball League Stories from January 31, 2009


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