BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Bellingham Slam used a strong first half as they cruised to their tenth consecutive victory, 138-117, over the Central Oregon Hotshots in an International Basketball League contest Monday afternoon at Whatcom Pavilion.
The Slam used a 21-9 run during the middle stages of the first quarter to established a 37-23 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Bellingham (12-2) furthered their lead to 32 by holding the Hotshots scoreless for the first 4:21 of the second quarter. The Slam rattled off 16 points in the run, with 10 coming from Paul Hafford. The Lynden Christian grad capped the streak with back-to-back three pointers from the corner to push the score to 55-23. Hafford finished the game with 18 points.
With the Slam leading 77-50 at halftime, the two teams played an even third quarter, with Ryan Diggs helping push Bellingham’s advantage as high as 39 with 13 points in the quarter on 6-for-6 shooting. The Hotshots played strong in the latter portion of the period, outscoring the Slam 24-11 in the final six minutes to make the score 108-82 going into the final frame.
With the Slam’s reserves seeing much of the action in the fourth quarter, Central Oregon outscored Bellingham 35-30 to account for the final margin.
The two teams played at a furious pace throughout the game, combining for 237 shots and 139 rebounds.
The Slam were led in scoring for the eighth time this season with 32 points. Seven other players scored in double figures, with Brian Dennis posting a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Central Oregon (6-11), who was playing its second game in as many nights, was led in scoring by Terry Horton with 42 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter.