Edwards tames Lightning with 49 points
Lathan has 23 in second straight loss
One night after hitting the game-winning basket, Ryan Edwards poured in 49 points on Saturday to lead the Kankakee County ( Ill. ) Soldiers to a rare sweep of the Los Angeles Lightning with a 109-105 IBL pro basketball victory.
It was the first time the Lighting (6-2) had been swept at Cal Lutheran since the Las Vegas Stars turned the trick on May 2-3, 2008.
Edwards, a 6-5 guard from Missouri Baptist, hit 17-of-28 from the field and 11-19 from 3-point land. Many of those were from 25 feet and deeper, including a 27-footer that stretched the lead to 107-102 with 45 seconds left.
The Soldiers (7-5) won the board battle 62-45, including 23-14 at the offensive end.
Trayvon Lathan led L.A. with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Former Utah Jazz star Bryon Russell had 20 points and nine rebounds while Travis Pinick recorded his second straight double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.
Pinick, a 6-7 forward from Yale, made 7-of-10 from the field and shot .778 for the weekend (14-18).
Fred Vinson had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Vinson hit a trey from the top of the key to shave the lead to three (108-105) with 20 seconds left but Barry Bradford canned one of two free throws for the final margin.
Bradford had 10 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
Erik Rhinehart had 19 points and Demarcus Bolton grabbed 12 rebounds for the Soldiers, who overcame a 92-84 deficit with eight minutes to play. Aaron Harrison started a 23-10 run with a layup and Edwards capped it with his long 3-pointer.
The Lightning lost despite shooting 20 more free throws (27-of-41) and making 12 more.
Los Angeles will play three home games next weekend against the USA All-Stars. The first one is Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will take place at Calabasas High. It’s a fundraiser for the Coyote athletic program with half the proceeds going to the high school.
The other two are at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
