The Bellingham Slam fell short of their goal to repeat as league champions as the Los Angeles Lightning defeated the team 132-121 in the International Basketball League (IBL) American conference Final Friday at Monroe Sports Arena in Monroe, Wash.

The Slam roster includes nine out of 13 players who are Western graduates and who have played for Western’s basketball program. The Slam secured the number two seed and a bye for the first round of the IBL American tournament by winning their last two regular season games. The loss on Friday ended their season with a 17-5 record.

Western alumni Ryan Diggs and Paul Hafford, both guards, combined to score 58 points for the Slam in the game. Forwards Tyler Amaya and Lukas Henne both contributed double-doubles for the Slam with Amaya’s 18 points and 14 rebounds and Henne’s 12 points and 12 rebounds.  Guard Darrick Martin led the Lightning in scoring with 28 points.

Bellingham got off to a hot start building up a 15-point lead, at 26-11, six minutes into the game.  The Slam held onto a four-point lead at halftime 62-58.  But the third quarter was a different story.  Los Angeles outscored the Slam 32 to 18, which proved to be the deciding factor for the outcome of the game.

“It is definitely not how we expected to end,” Bellingham Slam head coach Rob Ridnour said. “We really wanted that championship.”

A technical free throw by Amaya to start the fourth quarter would prove to be the last time the Slam would cut Los Angeles to less than ten points. Bellingham was able to get their offense going again but was unable to get the defensive stops necessary to chip into the Los Angeles lead.

The Slam faced the challenge of having one of their key starters, Steve Newman, out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.

“It hurts to not have Steve,” Ridnour said. “He defends big and was definitely a key player and leader on our team.”
The Slam, a semi-pro basketball team, has been part of the Bellingham community since 2005. In summer of 2007, they joined the IBL, which is composed of 22 other teams from around the world.

The IBL has grouped teams into two brackets, American and National, to play in two separate playoff tournaments. This year the Snohomish County Explosion of Monroe hosted the tournament, which started July 1. With the victory against the Slam, Los Angeles advances to the IBL championship game on July 18, and will face the Oregon Waves, who beat Snohomish County 148-135 Friday night.

Nine of the players on the Slam’s roster this season were part of the championship team last year and they hope that experience will help them in this year’s tournament.

“For us who have been there before, we know what it is like and we want nothing more than to walk away with the same accomplishments we had last year,” said Hafford, who was named co-MVP in last year’s 2008 Championship game.

Last season, the Slam beat Edmonton and Vancouver during conference play and went on to beat the Elkhart Express, 118-112, for the IBL 2008 Championship in front of a sold out Whatcom Pavilion in Bellingham.  Diggs was named co-MVP of the 2008 tournament after scoring 50 points in the two games.

Unfortunately the Slam could not repeat the 2009 season with the same accomplishments as their 2008 record.
Tony Dominguez, the owner and president of the Bellingham Slam, he said takes great pride in watching this group of men play. Dominguez is also the assistant coach for Western’s men’s basketball team and has watched many of his player’s transition from the collegiate league to the semi-pro league.

 “We have an awesome group of guys with very, very good talent on this team,” Dominguez said. “They come out every game and show that they can compete with any level.”

Though Dominguez has no control over recruiting for the Slam, he does believe that the connection to Western and the location strongly influences the talent to stay.

“I have been watching most of these guys since they were in high school so it has been a pleasure to watch them grow and mature into the men and players they are now,” Dominguez said.

Ira Graham is one of those players who had gone through the Western program and is now a key starter for the Slam. During Graham’s time at Western, he helped the Vikings to a 21-6 record and their first outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, as well as became the first Western player to have two consecutive 500-point seasons. As a Slam player, Graham started 20 games for the Slam, averaging 19.7 points per game.

Graham, who originally is from Fontana, Calif., told Dominguez that he was not ready to leave Bellingham when he graduated and saw the Slam as the perfect opportunity to stay.

To open the playoffs, the Slam defeated the Tacoma Tide, 116-111, in the second round Thursday, July 2. Tacoma was able to tie up the game on four occasions, but the Slam responded each time with clutch baskets.

Bellingham took the lead for good on back-to-back layups by Jacob Stevenson with less than 90 seconds left, and held on to win by making 8 of 11 free throws in the second half.

Stevenson led the Slam in scoring with 29 points. Amaya contributed a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Ridnour said he credits the men’s hard work in practice leading up to the tournament but said the team can always improve in certain areas.

“It is never fun to end your season on a low moment,” Ridnour said. “But our guys went out and left it all on the court. We put up a tough battle.”

The Slam will continue to work hard during the off-season and hope to make it back to the post season walking away with the championship for the 2010 season, Ridnour said.

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