The last two weekends, the Bowling Green Hornets have won two crucial professional basketball games. Now what boils down to being the most important game of the season for the Hornets finds them watching from afar.
Two weeks ago, the Middle Tennessee Storm was undefeated and looked like it had sewn up being the host team for the first-ever Central Basketball League championship game June 29.
Now—after home-and-away wins over the Storm on consecutive weekends, the Hornets are one win away from playing in that championship game. But they don’t have the opportunity to win that game themselves. They have to sit back and hope the River City Panthers—who started the season slowly but seem to be much improved—can hand Nashville its third straight loss, this time in Peoria, Ill.
Sunday afternoon, the Panthers will entertain Middle Tennessee in the league’s final regular season game of its first season. If the Storm wins, the Nashville-based team will be host for next Saturday’s championship game. But if River City can pull off the upset Sunday, the Hornets will tie the Storm for second place. Because the Hornets have beaten the Storm in two of their three meetings, the tiebreaker would go to the team which plays its home games at Russellville High School.
A win by the (Peoria) Panthers would send the team which plays at the home of the (Russellville) Panthers to St. Louis next week and Middle Tennessee would be sidelined.
Two weeks ago, in the Hornets’ final home game, Coach Otis Key’s team pulled out an impressive win. Getting a big early lift from hometown hero Maurice ‘Squeaky’ Hampton, who says he is closing down his impressive international professional career after seven seasons, gave the team an early lift. As long as he and fellow former Panther Otis Key were on the floor, the Hornets held the lead.
They kept the upset in play before some of their teammates caught up with them. Former Caverna and WKU standout Boris Siakam played his first game for the Hornets, and he scored eight straight points just before halftime.
The LoJo
Here’s how CBL writer Butch Cooper summarized that game at RHS:
Justin Taylor (6-foot-3 Tennessee Tech) and Kahlil McDonald (6-3, Western Kentucky) each scored 24 points as the Hornets defeated the Storm, 130-124, here at Russellville High School Saturday night.
It was the first loss for the Storm (4-1), who were seeking to clinch the final spot in the Central Basketball League championship game. The St. Louis Hawks (5-2) have already secured their place in the title contest.
Middle Tennessee held a 55-54 lead at halftime after trailing for most of the opening half. The Hornets, however, outscored the Storm, 38-28, in the third period to take control of the contest.
Even so, the Storm fought back in the fourth, making it a 102-101 contest at one point, but a 7-0 run by the Hornets helped them to regain the advantage and keep the visitors at bay during the final minutes of play.
In addition to Taylor's and McDonald's performances, Boris Siakam (6-7, Western Kentucky), in his debut, added 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jamal Crook (6-3, Western Kentucky) netted 19 points.
Meanwhile, Middle Tennessee's Demarco Polk (5-11, Stratford (Tenn.) High School) led all scorers with 30 points. Michael France (6-2, Trevecca Nazarene) scored 25 points for the Storm, Dominique Rouse (6-6, Life) tossed in 19 and Fred Hill (6-5, Tennessee State) hauled in nine boards.
The LoJo
Then a week later, the Hornets showed their win wasn’t a one-time affair, winning on the Fisk University campus in North Nashville. They were without Hampton, whose beloved grandfather Charlie Boyd was at the point of death. Here’s how Cooper described the game in Nashville:
Khalil McDonald helped prove that last week's Bowling Green win over previously unbeaten Middle Tennessee was no fluke.
The 6-foot-3 guard out of Western Kentucky scored a season-high 36 points, including eight 3-point goals, as the Hornets cruised to a 110-93 victory over Middle Tennessee at Fisk University Saturday night.
The win, as last week's did, kept Bowling Green's aspirations of playing in the Central Basketball League championship game alive. The Hornets will now have to wait until next Sunday and hope that the River City Panthers can pull off the upset on their home court against the Storm in the regular season finale.
On Saturday, Bowling Green gained control of the contest early and never relinquished it. After the Storm took a very early 5-4 lead, the Hornets went on an 8-0 run and slowly built that into a 34-22 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
However, it was the second quarter that Bowling Green blew the game wide open, outscoring the Storm 30-17 to take a 25-point lead into halftime.
Despite their opening half dominance, Middle Tennessee at one point went on a 22-9 run in the third quarter to make it an 83-70 contest, but the hosts were never able to overcome the Hornets early efforts.
Also for the Hornets (4-3), Michael Stone (6-3, Transylvania) netted 20 points, while Justin Taylor (6-3, Tennessee Tech) scored 19 points, along with nine rebounds and seven steals and Tony Key (6-11, Los Angeles C.C.) tossed in 16 points and grabbed nine boards. Runtreal Braxton (6-4, Cumberland) also had nine boards for Bowling Green and McDonald pulled down eight.
Demarco Polk (5-11, Stratford (Tenn.) High School) led the Storm (4-2) with 32 points and Dominique Rouse (6-6, Life College) hauled in 12 rebounds.
The LoJo
The following is Cooper’s preview of Sunday’s all-important contest:
PEORIA, Ill. – On Sunday, the inaugural regular season of the Central Basketball League will come to a close when the River City Panthers play host to the Middle Tennessee Storm in a crucial game in determining the final participant in the championship game.
Three of the four teams in the league will likely be pulling for ...the Panthers on Sunday.
Obviously, there's the Panthers, who would be able to close out a rough first season with a big win.
Then there are the Bowling Green Hornets, who will earn a spot in the championship contest with a Middle Tennessee loss.
And finally, the St. Louis Hawks, who will get to host the CBL title game against the Hornets in the event of a Panthers' win. A Storm win will send the Hawks on the road to Nashville for the June 29 game.
The Hawks have already clinched a title game spot.
SUNDAY'S GAME
Middle Tennessee Storm at River City Panthers
Game Time: 7 p.m. (CST)
Location: Peoria Academy (Peoria, Ill.)
Last Meeting: Storm won 104-92 (April 13)
It seems only fitting that the final regular season game will be a rematch of the first-ever CBL contest.
These two teams' lone meeting was on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville where the Storm pulled away early and held on for the season-opening victory, led by Myles Thrash's (5-foot-11, Stillman College) 24 points and Demarco Polk's (5-11, Stratford (Tenn.) High School) 20. In addition, Dominique Rouse (6-6, Life College) was named the league's first Player of the Week with an 18 point, 12 rebound performance for Middle Tennessee.
Mike Gills (6-6, Illinois Valley C.C.) had 19 points and Brandon Lee (5-11, Northwestern) 18 for the Panthers in the opening loss.
Following that win, Middle Tennessee started out strong and, at one point, was the lone remaining unbeaten team in league play, including a pair of wins against St. Louis. The Storm seemed a shoe-in for a title game spot.
Then came back-to-back losses to Bowling Green, including a 110-93 home loss last week that put their hopes in jeopardy, forcing a must-win game this Sunday.
While the Storm need the win to play in the title game, a win for River City would be a big boost for the Panthers' organization going into the off-season.