Great Falls Electric Stuns Vancouver for the Upset Victory, 105-101; Electric Now in Third Place

The Great Falls Electric (8-6) took the lead for good (95-93) on a Lamine Komara long distance field goal with 2:39 remaining and the visiting Montana squad pulled off the 105-101 upset over the Vancouver Volcanoes (11-4) inside Hudson Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington on Saturday night. Great Falls has now won three straight victories this weekend. The road trip started in Eugene, Oregon on Thursday with a twelve-point win against the Emerald City Jaguars, 106-94 and then took the short trek to Salem, Oregon to down the Salem Capitals, 118-104 and finished with Saturday’s contest against the Volcanoes. Great Falls and Vancouver kept the first quarter within two points until the final 30 seconds of the first when Thomas Miles and Vincent Bouman from the Volcanoes scored five points to stretch the lead to 25-18. Brandon Jamar (6), Antwaan Cushingberry (5), Andrew Whitsett (5) and Lyle Hexom (2) all scored for the Electric. Vincent Boumann added eight points for Vancouver. Vancouver led throughout the second quarter, but Great Falls found themselves trailing 47-46 as Kareem Jamar of the Electric successfully made a three-point trey with 11 seconds left before halftime. The host team started to pull away in the third frame by outscoring Great Falls, 36-20. Lyle Hexom and Lamine Komara provided five points each for the Electric. Great Falls’ offense fought back and started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run with Lyle Hexom scoring five and Andrew Whitsett and Antwaan Cushingberry each adding two points each during the first four minutes of the last quarter. Lamine Komara evened the game (92-92) with a basket from behind the arc with 3:40 remaining to start the comeback. Great Falls led by as many as five points and went on to defeat the top team in The Basketball League’s (TBL’s) West Conference’s Pacific Northwest. Great Falls finished their season series against Vancouver with a 1-3 record. The upset victory over Vancouver vaulted the Great Falls Electric from fourth to third place in the division with six regular season contests remaining before the 2024 TBL Playoffs begin in June. Vancouver continues to lead the pack with an 11-4 record followed by the Seattle (WA) Super Hawks (10-5) and Great Falls and the Salem (OR) Capitals both are at 8-6 with both teams facing off on May 3-4 in Great Falls. The Wenatchee (WA) Bighorns (4-7) and the Emerald City (OR) Jaguars are still searching for their first win despite many close games (0-13). NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls enters the month of May with four of their six remaining games on their home court. The Salem Capitals make their first trip to the Swarthout Fieldhouse (Great Falls High) on Friday and Saturday, May 3-4 with tip time set for 7:00PM (MST). The Electric will be in Seattle and Wenatchee, Washington for a single game against the Super Hawks and the Bighorns, respectively on May 9-10 to finish off their final road trip of the season. Great Falls and Wenatchee will meet in Great Falls on May 24-25 for the final regular season games of the season. Those games will be at the C.M. Russell High School Fieldhouse due to the 2024 Montana State AA & C Track Meet taking place at Great Falls High’s Memorial Stadium on Labor Day Weekend.