LOS ANGELES LIGHTNING RELEASE
By Dave Loveton, Director of Media Relations
dave@losangeleslightning.net
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Game 17 – Lightning 136, Edmonton Energy 133

Knight nets 33 points in comeback win
Housman, Lathan combine for 54; Strickland gets 14

Trayvon Lathan

EDMONTON, Canada – After losing by 41 points on Friday, Billy Knight and his Los Angeles Lightning teammates had something to prove. Knight scored 21 of his game-high 33 points in the final quarter on Saturday night, leading L.A. to a thrilling 136-133 comeback victory over the Edmonton Energy.

“I was devastated after that loss,” said Knight, a former UCLA standout who won a championship in the Basketball Japan League last month. “I went to my hotel, got some sleep, ate right and thought about the game. Today, I just wanted to attack and that’s what I did.” Knight tallied nine points in the final 2:29. The left-hander hit a 3-pointer from the right side to put the Lightning up 134-133 with 38 seconds to go. After a traveling violation on Edmonton , Knight threaded a pass to Tarron Williams, who spun in the key and made a layup for a three-point lead with 10.4 seconds remaining.

Knight blocked a 3-point attempt by Rashaun Broadus out-of-bounds with 1.1 showing. He then played great defense on a last-gasp triple from the left corner by Steve Sir.

“I’m like Kobe , I’m like Ron Artest in the fourth quarter – I get it done,” declared Knight, who hit 9-22 from the field, 4-8 from downtown and 11-12 from the free-throw line.

Drew Housman dropped in 10 of 12 shots and scored 28 points for the Lighting (14-3), who won for the eighth time in nine games. The 6-1 guard from Calabasas High and Harvard was 3-4 from downtown and also had seven rebounds and six assists. “We had a different mindset,” said Housman, who tied his season high for points. “We said we’re going to play to win, not just show up. Everyone rebounded, which was the key.”

Trayvon Lathan collected 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists and 7-2 Michael Boone had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. State Sen. Tony Strickland hit 7-11 en route to a career-high 14 points and also grabbed a career-best seven rebounds for the Lightning, who would be seeded No. 2 if next weekend’s IBL playoffs started today.

Sir topped Edmonton (12-6) with 27 points, including a half-dozen 3-pointers. Skouson Harker had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Dave Patten added 22 points and William Funn chalked up 12 points, seven rebounds and 15 assists.

The Lightning took a 16-point lead in the opening quarter (28-12) on a layup by Boone, then fell behind by eight (93-85) late in the third. Dajuan Tate scored a driving layup to ignite a 10-0 run that was capped by a steal and reverse slam from Lathan that put his team ahead 95-93.

The Lightning played their second straight game without any of their six ex-NBA players. An Edmonton paper called this group “the B Team” in a Saturday story.

“Normally, these guys come in and spell our NBA guys,” said coach Ron Quarterman. “In the paper, they called them ‘the B Team,’ so I used that as bulletin-board material.

“I know they’re not the B Team, they can play. But when you’ve got Lamond Murray, Fred Vinson, Tyus Edney and Toby Bailey in front of you, who are you going to play?

“We went out and showed we’re not a B Team. We played better defense tonight. We did a great job of sending them to the baseline and rotating from there.”

The teams will play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday at 7 p.m.