By Dave Loveton
Director of Media Relations

dave@losangeleslightning.net

Game 2 (Sat., April 19) -- Battle Creek (Mich.) 118, Lightning 93

Knights conquer L.A. with big second half  

 The Lightning struck early Saturday night at the Gilbert Sports Arena but L.A. couldn't weather the hot second-half shooting of the Battle Creek (Mich.) Knights, who nailed 11 3-pointers after intermission and beat the expansion IBL franchise for the second straight night, 118-93.

 Eric Smith hit 6-of-12 from long range for the Knights (3-4) en route to a game-high 31 points. Rashi Johnson added 19 points, seven steals and seven rebounds.

 The Lightning (0-2) jumped ahead 14-4 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Fred Vinson. They led 31-23 after the first 12 minutes but it was all Battle Creek the rest of the night, as they outscored the Lightning by 33 in the last three periods.

 The Knights, who won the first IBL title in 2005, enjoyed a 33-9 advantage in 3-point scoring over the last two quarters. They tallied 33 in each stanza en route to a 66-43 second-half advantage.

 Six players scored in double figures for L.A., led by Vinson (18), Wayne Oliver (14) and Phil Givens (13). Vinson, the IBL record-holder with 15 treys in a game, made only 6 of 21 from the field. Lamond Murray, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's 88-77 loss to Battle Creek, didn't play in Saturday's rematch.

 The Lightning will play 20 regular-season games with the first 12 at the new 1,500-seat Gilbert Sports Arena on the campus of Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. The Gary (Ind.) Steelheads are comng to town this week (April 25-26), followed by the Las Vegas Stars on May 2-3.

 All home games start at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live in streaming video on the Web at www.lalightning.net. That's also the place to purchase season tickets and get more information on the team.