Top 5 Teams, Top 5 Players of the Week; Key Matchups this Weekend; Game of the Week

Here's the Top 5 Teams in the Midwest Basketball League, Top 5 Players from last week and the Key Games for this Weekend:

Top Player Fred Ford vs the Air Strikers Star DeWayne Martin

MBL Top 5 (After Week 5) 

(1) Cedar Valley Court Kings - 4-0   Court Kings continue to show why they are the top dogs in the League with a easy win over the Lincoln Lions  (140-96) last week. With 7 guys in double figures the Court Kings are rolling.

(2) Dayton Air Strikers  - 4-0   The Air Strikers took it to a Indiana Fury team, and stay in the 2 spot. Can they go on the road and get a big win this week?


(3) Minnesota Rangers - 4-0  The Rangers continue to stay on pace and undefeated with a nice performance on the road last weekend to defeat a rival in the Pitbulls and a home win as well to go 2-0 on the weekend.

(4) Fort Wayne Vision  - 5-1  Fort Wayne notched 2 wins on the weekend, lastly running past Central Indiana at home to earn some staying power in the top 5.

Kentucky Flash Owner / MBL  Commissioner Charles Hickman and Star Player Antwon Phillips 

(5) Kentucky Flash - 3-2   The Flash had a bye this week, as they are coming off a loss to the #2 seed Dayton Air Strikers. Can they regroup this weekend?




MBL Top Players of the Week 

Tracey McGuire - Air Strikers  
McGuire dropped 31, 12 boards, 6 dimes, and was the most dynamic player on the court.



Fred Ford - Indiana Fury 

Ford started slowly, but once he got going, there was no stopping the shooting guard who had a league high 40 points on the night.

Joe Thomason - Dayton 
Thomasson, the MVP Candidate,  notched his 4th consecutive 30 pt-game and hit 2 buzzer beaters to match.



Rochester Rogers - Minnesota Rangers
Rogers led the Rangers to a couple big wins with a 28 and 27- point effort on the wins; he added 6 rebounds and a steal to lead the undefeated Rangers over the Broncos.



Robert Clamese  - Lincoln 
Clamese dropped a league week high of  42 - on 11-14 shooting, knocking 4 threes down in the process and hiting 16 of 17 FTs.






Week 6 Schedule  - Key Games 

(  ) = Ranking in MBL Poll

SATURDAY
Minnesota Broncos  @ Lincoln Lions

Chicago Knights      @ (5) Kentucky Flash

(2) Dayton Air Strikers  @ Springfield

Indiana Dream          @ Fort Wayne Vision

SUNDAY

Chicago Fury  @ (3) Minnesota Rangers

(4) Fort Wayne Vision   @ Indiana Fury

(1) Cedar Valley Court Kings  @ Minnesota Pitbulls  (Game of The Week)

Can the top dogs continue to show why they are the best in the MBL? The Pitbulls will be ready and up for the challenge.

Minnesota Broncos   @ Milwaukee Storm

BRANDING GAMES:

 

N Minneapolis Eagles   @ Minnesota Arctic Blast

Wisconsin Game Changers   @ TC Elite

Chicago Knights   @ Milwaukee Wizards

N Minneapolis   @  TC Elite

Media Monday; Air Strikers stop Flash and Fury; Court Kings roll; Rangers win battle of Minnesota; Ft Wayne shines

Heres what went down in the MBL in Week 5

Air Strikers F DeWayne Martin throws down 2 of his 27 points against the Indiana Fury 

Court Kings stay undefeated
Cedar Valley continued to handle business as they ran past the Lincoln Lions 140-96. It was a dominating effort, and with the win the Court Kings move to 4-0 on the season. The Court Kings are the defending champs and hold the #1 spot in the Weekly MBL Poll.

Fury G Fred Ford sizes up competition as Chris Montgomery and the Air Strikers ready for D. Ford dropped 40 on the night, leading all scorers

Air Strikers get big wins, stops Kentucky winning streak;

The Dayton Air Strikers pulled out 2 big wins, as they won @ Kentucky Saturday and then at home vs Indiana Fury on Sunday.
In Saturdays game vs the Flash, the game was close early, as the Air Strikers held momentum, but the Flash rebounded and had the game in striking distance. After the Flash pulled the game to 5 midway in the 3rd quarter, the Air Strikers, led by F Gary Akbar and Joe Thomasson, used a decisive run late in the 3rd and early in the 4th to secure the game and cruise to a 126-98 victory. Leading scorer and Flash Star G Melvyn Little (28ppg) was held to 5 points, which was a credit to the Air Strikers defense. Kentucky falls to 3-2.

In the Sunday game vs Indiana Fury the Air Strikers used a slow start by the Fury to jump out and grab a 27-5 lead en route to a 137-101 win.

PG Tracy McGuire (31 pts, 12 reb, 6 dimes, 2 blks),  Joe Thomasson (34 pts, 10 dimes, 4 reb) and DeWayne Martin (27pts, 14 boards, 3 blks) led the Air Strikers as all 6 players scored double figures. The Fury were led by G Fred Ford (40) and F Kameron Bright (21).

The Air Strikers move to 5-0 on the season, & are #2 in the weekly MBL poll.

Tracy McGuire and the Air Strikers stuffs D for 1 of his 2 blocks; 

Rangers still undefeated

The Minnesota Rangers also stayed undefeated with a big win and have showed they are ready at another shot at a MBL Title - albeit early in the season.
The Rangers defeated the North Minneapolis Eagles (Branding Team) 141-120 and then defeated the Minnesota Broncos on the road 116-108. In the 2nd game the Broncos pulled the game close, but the Rangers used a great clutch play, and consistent offense to defeat the Broncos. The Rangers now move to 4-0 and stay tied for 1st in the West on the season, while the Broncos fall to 2-2.

Ft Wayne gets 2 big wins
The Ft Wayne Vision was able to get 2 big wins this weekend, pushing their record to 5-1 and showing they will be a contender in the early part of the season. On Saturday the Vision went on the road and defeated Springfield (Ohio) 137-127 in a high scoring game, which featured a little bit of everything. Then on Sunday the Vision came home and handed the Central Indiana Crusaders a 109-85 win in front of their home supporters.
The Vision was able to stifle Central Indiana, and with the 2 wins, this puts the Vision a half a game out of 1st place in the East.

Lincoln falls in tough weekend
The Lincoln Lions had a tough weekend, losing to the Chicago Fury on Saturday and the Champion Cedar Valley Court Kings on Sunday.
In Saturdays game, the Lions had opportunities to possibly win, but the Fury showed moxie, on the road nevertheless, and was able to win late.
In Sundays game the Lions looked a little tired, and couldn't keep up with the fast paced champions in Cedar Valley.
The loss drops the Lions to 0-4 in the early season.

Broncos split games this weekend

The Minnesota Broncos was able to get 1 of 2 games played this weekend in the W column
.
On Saturday the Broncos was able to hold off a pesky Minnesota Pitbulls team. Both teams played well, but late in the game the Broncos hit key shots and played timely D, solidifying the win.
On Sunday, the Broncos had home court and it seemed that they would be able to grab another win vs , but great execution from the Minnesota Rangers was the difference in the game, and with that the Broncos record now sits at 2-2.

The Top 5 Rankings; Big Games on Schedule this weekend

Here's the top 5 Rankings in the Midwest Basketball League after Week 4,  and our key Games for our Week 5 Schedule


(1) Cedar Valley - 3-0  The Court Kings sit at 1 after a great start. They have shown no signs of slowing up after big win over Chicago

(2) Dayton Air Strikers - 3-0  the Air Strikers have picked up right where they left off last regular season.

(3) Minnesota Rangers - 2-0. The Rangers hold the 2 spot after a good 1st couple weeks.

(4) Kentucky Flash - 3-1  The Flash have on their last 2 and face the East Champs this weekend.

(5) Fort Wayne Vision - 3-1 The Vision  have started fast, and sit at the 5 spot after a good stretch.


Week 5 Games 

Dayton Air Strikers  @ Kentucky Flash 
 Can the Flash stop the top seed in the East? 

Week 3 Recap: Champs stay undefeated, rout Fury; Flash get triple double from Williams in win

Here's what went down in the MBL last weekend, along with some of our star performers.

The Kentucky Flash and Springfield Panthers go at it last weekend

(Saturday)

CourtKings stay undefeated, Champs cruise to big win

Cedar Valley (3-0) dominated the 1st half in the matchup between 2 of the top teams in the East.
The Court Kings took a 35-point lead into half (75-40) and never looked back, winning easily over the Chicago Fury 140-107.

 The Court Kings had 6 guys in double figures, had 36 assists on 56 makes, and was led by  a trio of guys in  Wakefield Ellison (29 & 10rbs), Aundre Hicks (23,10 & 10), & Alex Houston (25 & 15 rbs). 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Aundre Hicks, Cedar Valley
Hicks triple double (23 pts, 10 rbs, 10 dimes) gets him this award, as he dominated the game from many different facets in the blowout win.

Flash move to 3-1 behind Williams triple double, knock off Springfield

The Kentucky Flash started slow as the Springfield (Ohio) Panthers got off to a quick 5-0 start.

But after that?

It was all Flash as they was able to get their 3rd win of the season with a big road win over Springfield 110-94.
The Flash had 4 guys in double figures, all scoring 20 points as Darnell Berry (20), Ben McGriff (22), Jeremy Williams (25), and Patrick McGee (27) led a balanced effort.

The Flash will take on the Air Strikers in a big time battle in the East this coming Saturday.
Coach Charles Hickman was pleased with the effort shown by his shorthanded squad.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:  Jeremy Williams, Kentucky
Williams went off for a triple double as well, dropping 25 with 12 boards, 12 dimes, 4 steals and 3 blocks in a unbelieveable effort to lead the Flash om the road.




Fort Wayne knocks off Indiana Fury, stay in 2nd place
 Fort Wayne used a great offensive display and solid team D to shut down the Indiana Fury 111-98 at home @ the Spiece Fieldhouse.
With the win Fort Wayne moves to 3-1, which keeps them on pace in 2nd place in the East. The loss drops Indiana to 1-2.



Milwaukee down Minnesota
The Milwaukee Storm (2-1) won their 2nd game in a row, downing the Minnesota Pitbulls 123-116 in Milwaukee. The game was close, but the Storm proved to be too much at home, and now sit a game out of 1st place. Minnesota falls to 0-2 on the early season.




(Sunday Game)
Fort Wayne throttles Springfield
Fort Wayne used the weekend to get on track, going 2-0, knocking off Springfield in the process and solidifying themselves as a early contender. Springfield falls to 1-3



(BRANDING)
Knights defeat Legends in the Battle of Chicago; (Red Shield Center)
In the Battle of Chicago, the Chicago Knights defeated the Legends 123-116.
Both teams gave max effort, but the Knights had a little more juice when it counted, and got the big rivalry win.


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Air Strikers pull away late, move to 2-0; Thomasson nets 30

When the Dayton Air Strikers played the Indiana Dream last year it was a blowout from the start.

Joe Thomasson goes up against Dream for 2 of his game high 30 points

 This year? The same results, but a completely different story.

   Indiana had the game in their grasp as they were only down 2 to the Air Strikers (109 - 107) with less than 5 minutes to go in the game.  The game was tied going into the 4th as the Dream had seized momentum.

  However, a late flurry by Andre Yates, Joe Thomason, Aaron Holmes and Tracy McGuire took a tight game and sealed the deal as the Air Strikers defeated the Indiana Dream 127-114.

The Air Strikers now improve to 2-0, while the Dream will fall to 1-2.

Fast rising Youth Program showing love and getting love at the Air Striker game 

The Air Strikers made runs in every quarter but every run the Strikers made the Dream matched.

Led by Maris (28), Steve Smith (24), and Marquez Morse (25), the Dream went blow for blow until 5 minutes left in the game.

Maris had a big game for the Dream 

That's when the Air Strikers went on a decisive game-ending run.

Joe Thomasson led the Air Striker offensive attack with 30 points, while Andre Yates dropped 18, Mook Holmes added the inside punch with 17 and 13 rebs, and Dwyane Martin dropped 18 with 3 blocks to join 7 Air Strikers in double figures.

The Dream were pleased with the effort, and the coaching staff knows they had a real opportunity to win the game.

Coach McGuire with Big Man Aaron "Mook" Holmes 

Air Strikers coach Chris McGuire loved the effort, but wasn't pleased with the execution overall, especially after a sloppy 1st half.

But as McGuire knows, being a star in the NCAA Tournament, is that a win is a win, especially when you are the top dog in the conference.

G Andre Yates goes hard for 2 vs the Dream 

MVPs of the Game:
Joe Thomasson, Air Strikers
 Thomasson led the Air Strikers with 30, but added 4 boards, 3 assists, and 4 huge steals to take home the award.

Star player Steve Smith at the line for 2 

Steve Smith,  Indiana Dream
 Smith was consistent all night, and in the 4th quarter he went off to keep the Dream upset hopes alive.

Flash get big W last week; Can they continue in Springfield? Todays (Week 3) Matchups;

Here's what's on tap for the Weekend in the MBL

Flash pull away at home; Now face Springfield

The Kentucky Flash (2-1) got a much needed victory last week with a big win over the Fort Wayne Vision.
The Vision had won their first game, and were ready for the challenge.

The Flash were in control for the 1st half, built a big led (19), only to watch it evaporate as the Vision tied the game in the 3rd.
Fort Wayne looked as if they might grab a big road win, but the Flash turned the tide back in their favor.

  The Flash would never trail in the game, as they regained their composure led by Melvyn Little (23 pts, 5 assists) and Jeremy Williams (20pts, 8 rebs), & Antwon Phillips secured the inside with 12 boards.  The Flash now will head to Ohio today to battle against Springfield.

Flash Coach Charles Hickman has been pleased with the performance of his team thus far, but knows the real tests are yet to come.

Player of the Game:  Melvyn Little, Kentucky
Little was able to control the game, and while the 23 put him in top scorer status, the 8 dimes were crucial to the team getting the 2nd W of the season.



Schedule for today (April 15th):

Kentucky Flash      (2-1)         @   Springfield    (1-1)

Indiana Dream       (1-1)        @    Dayton    (1-0)

Cedar Valley CourtKings  (2-0)     @       Chicago Fury   (2-0)      (Game of the Week)
Can the Champs continue its undefeated season? Or will the upstart Fury knock off the champs at home? The CourtKings have looked good so far. This will be a nice test for Cedar Valley.


Indiana Fury      (1-1)    @        Ft Wayne Vision  (1-1)

Minnestota Pitbulls  (0-2)    @  Milwaukee Storm   (1-1)  


Branding League

Chicago Legends   (1-0)              @  Chicago Knights   (0-1)

East Champion Air Strikers post 143 on Central Indiana in Season Opener; Thomasson drops 32; Next game vs Dream Saturday

Heres the top Headlines, recap for last Weekend in the MBL

Thomasson led the Air Strikers with 32 

Air Strikers run past Crusaders in Season opener; Thomasson goes for 32
 Last season ended woefully for the Air Strikers as the Eastern Conference champions went up to Minneapolis only to be thrashed by the eventual MBL Champions in Cedar Valley in the semifinals.

The Dayton Air Strikers got their season opener underway with a bang as they ran past the Central Indiana Crusaders 143-84 last Saturday night.

Joe Thomasson, the star guard for the Air Strikers who just came off a stint in the NBDL, was on fire in the first quarter, as he went for 16 of his 32 points to lead the Air Strikers to a big lead which they would never relinquish.
Central Indiana battled, but a tough start, on the road for the 2nd day in a row, and taking on the Eastern Conference Champs had something to do with it.

G Andre Yates looks to create during Air Strikers victory

The Air Strikers had multiple guys in double figures, with G Andre Yates dropping 20, Aaron Holmes with a double (17 & 10), Daquan Walker with 17 and Tracy McGuire with 15, to go with 3 steals. Dewayne Martin added 13 to round out the double digit scorers.

Crafty lefty Deon Williams led the Crusaders with 15, while Quinn Brooks added 15 as well and David Clanton did the dirty work with a double double. Aubrey Patterson scored double digits as well.
Indiana Coach J.R. Martin was happy the squad played hard, but knows the back to back games took a toll on his boys. He's pleased with the league, and feels his team will compete to win every time they go out on the court.

Air Strikers Head Coach Chris McGuire was pleased with his teams efforts, and knows he has championship talent across the board.

Star of the Game: Joe Thomasson, Dayton  -The former Wright State Raider, Thomasson dropped 16 and led the Air Strikers to 15-22 shooting in the 1st quarter to set the tone and lead Dayton to victory.




Air Strikers Take on Indiana Dream Saturday

The Dayton Air Strikers (1-0) will battle the Indiana Dream (1-1) on Saturday, April 16th at Sinclair Community College.

The Dream are a far better team than they were last season, as the Dream had a nightmare start, and wasn't able to capture a playoff spot.
This season the Dream won at home vs Springfield (124-112) and almost pulled out a road win against their rival Indiana Fury, falling by 1 (91-90).

Indiana Dream Coach Steve Smith knows his squad will be tested coming here, but he and the Dream are ready for the challenge.

The Dream want to be a playoff team, and this weekend will show how far they have came to taking on the top squad in the East.

The Air Strikers are coming off a great all around effort against Central Indiana last weekend.
Can they continue the great play early in the season against a different and more prepared Dream squad?

Game will tipoff around 5:15 on Saturday.