Central Basketball Association

FORT WAYNE 127, ILLINOIS 87: (Fort Wayne, Ind.) - Being the team to beat this year as the two-time defending champions, Fort Wayne knew that this season they would need to put on their best performance as the competition to dethrone them would be intense. And in their home opener this afternoon, Fort Wayne announced to the rest of the league that they would not be going down this year without a fight. After a competitive first-half where Illinois cut an early 15-point deficit to single digits, Fort Wayne held Illinois to only nine points in the third quarter extending their lead to as many as 49 points, before handing Illinois its worst loss in team history. Fort Wayne was led by Antonio Cannon and Elijah Wilson-Thomas, who each scored 24 points, while Illinois was led by Widgett Washington with 30 points. Fort Wayne (1-0) will host Baltimore on Saturday night, while Illinois (0-1) will host Baltimore the night before on Friday evening. 

MEMPHIS 102, BOWLING GREEN 95 (OT): (Memphis, Tenn.) - One night after failing to properly mount a comeback against Jackson on the road, Memphis was staring at another double-digit deficit this evening, as Bowling Green erupted to a 50-29 lead in the second quarter. But scoring 15 consecutive points on their way to a 34-10 run, put Memphis back in the lead early in the second half. Bowling Green, however, rallied to regain the lead, going on a 15-2 run on their own to go back up by double digits in the final frame. The back-and-forth affair continued; however, as Memphis initiated a second rally, where after cutting the deficit to two points with less than 30 seconds remaining, they hit a game-tying field goal in the final seconds to force overtime. In the extra period, Memphis pulled away in the final minute ending the game on a 6-0 run to earn this first win of the year. Memphis was led by Dontarion Wright (26 points), Jameel Best (22 points), and Cohshun Odom (19 points), while Bowling Green was led by Teraes Clemmons (26 points), Mark Gray (20 points), and Monte Burney (19 points). Both teams are on the road in two weeks as Memphis (1-1) travels to Nashville to face Middle Tennessee, while Bowling Green (0-1) faces off against Jackson.