Five Lightning players named to All-Star team
Murray, Bailey, Vinson lead IBL squad into IBL Finals this weekend
A quintet of former NBA players from the Los Angeles Lightning have been named to the 2009 International Basketball League All-Star squad.
Lamond Murray, a 12-year NBA veteran, led the Lightning in scoring at 24.2 per game. Toby Bailey (18.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 7.5 apg) recorded the first triple-double in team history this year while Fred Vinson averaged 17.5 points and was the team's top 3-point shooter (73-166, .440 pct.). Bryon Russell (12.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg), who helped the Utah Jazz reach the NBA Finals twice, was also chosen as an all-star along with 13-year NBA veteran Darrick Martin.
L.A.'s Juaquin Hawkins, a left-hander who played for the Houston Rockets, made honorable mention.
The Lightning (16-4) topped the Bellingham Slam 132-121 in the American Bracket final on July 2 behind 28 points from Martin, a former UCLA point guard who was named American MVP.
Los Angeles, winners of eight of its last nine, will play host to the Oregon Waves (15-7) on Saturday, July 25 in the opener of a best-of-3 IBL championship series at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. The second game is slated for Sunday with a third game to follow, if necessary, on Tuesday.
All games tip off at 7 p.m. and can be heard on radio (KVTA 1520, KKZZ 1400) or on the internet at lalightning.net.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com or by call 800-745-3000.
