With the second win in as many days, the Minot Skyrockets advance to the CBA Finals with a 103-89 victory over the Pittsburgh Xplosion. This will be the first time the Minot Skyrockets franchise has participated in the CBA Finals. The last time the CBA Finals were contested in the state of North Dakota was on March 24, 2004, when the Dakota Wizards defeated the Idaho Stampede to with the CBA Championship.
The Skyrockets swept the Xplosion, two games to none to capture the American Conference Championship. They defeated Pittsburgh 105-87 in Game 1 and finished the series with a 103-89 victory tonight in Minot. This two game sweep ends the Xplosion season. They finished with a 29-21 record.
Minot will now travel to Oklahoma to take on the National Conference Champion Cavalry. Games 1 and 2 will take place on Saturday, March 22 and Monday, March 24 in Lawton. Game time is 7:30 central time. Game three will take place in Minot on Wednesday, March 26. Games 4 and 5 will be played on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29, if necessary, in Minot. Game time is 7:05 central time.
The Skyrockets won the season series 3-1 over the Cavalry in the regular season. Minot won the first three contests, 91-89 (4.5), 97-94 (5.5), and 92-88 (4.0) in overtime. The Cavalry won the last contest 114-98 (6.5).
“This will be a hotly contested series,” said CBA Deputy Commissioner Dennis Truax. “Oklahoma knocked off the two time defending champion Yakama Sun Kings and is on an eight game winning streak. They have Daryan Selvy and Marvin Phillips who are both tough match-up problems. Minot has veterans Ronnie Fields and Kevin Rice who are no strangers to the Finals. The Miners currently have a ten game winning streak. Both teams are evenly matched. It should be a great Finals for our teams and fans.”
