Explosion ends Miners’ playoff run in one game

By Jim Rodenbush

For the News-Express

PITTSBURGH — The East Kentucky Miners’ first appearance in the postseason proved to be short-lived.

Jason McLeish scored 34 points and James “Boo” Jackson added 27 points and 15 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for the Miners, who lost to the Pittsburgh Xplosion, 129-121.

By winning the one-game playoff, the Xplosion advance to the American Conference finals, and will face the Minot Skyrockets in a best-of-three series. The winner of that series will move on to the CBA finals.

The Miners’ loss ends a successful first season for the expansion franchise, which finished with a 26-23 record.

“I told the guys in the locker room after the game, ‘You’ve got nothing to hang your heads about,’“ Miners coach Kevin Keathley said. “We laid the foundation for an expansion franchise in Eastern Kentucky. I feel very proud to have been a part of it, and you couldn’t ask for anything more out of these guys.

“Today, we just got out-played. It was their day.”

Steve Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Miners. Mike Dean (18 points) and Josh Pace (17) also were in double figures, but the two combined to miss 27 of 41 shots.

John DeGroat had 31 points to lead the Xplosion, which shot 49.5 percent and won despite being out-rebounded, 56-47.

Jackson scored 10 points in the first quarter, and the Miners took a 32-20 lead. East Kentucky built its advantage to 17 points early in the second, but the Miners then struggled to convert on offense, making just two baskets over the final 7:16 of the first half.

The Xplosion took advantage and closed the half with an 18-5 run. The Miners led, 54-51, at the intermission.

“We let Pittsburgh back in the ball game,” Keathley said. “We had a three-point lead, but we should have had a nine- or 10-point lead. And that’s a lead we might have been able to sustain the rest of the way.”

Jackson, who graduated from Pittsburgh’s Perry High School, said the Miners weren’t able to adjust when they started struggling on offense.

“We came out on fire,” he said. “Then, they started knocking down shots, and our intensity level kind of dropped a bit. When they started hitting shots, that was a big key. We’re a running team. We’re use to getting the ball off the glass, rebounding, and running. They put us into a half-court game. It slowed us down, and that’s when the game turned.”

The Xplosion grabbed their first lead, 56-55, just over a minute into the third quarter.

“We knew things would eventually turn,” said DeGroat, who also had six rebounds. “They couldn’t stay hot the whole game. The score doesn’t mean anything until the final buzzer sounds. We’ve come back from (17) points before. We just kept our composure.”

The game remained close for most of the second half. A basket from Jackson gave the Miners their last lead, 96-95, with 8:25 left. A free throw from DeGroat and a basket from Lincoln Glass put the Xplosion back ahead by two points. Pace tied the game, 98-98, before the Xplosion took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from Albert White with 7:32 remaining.

“This was just a game of runs,” DeGroat said. “All that mattered was who stopped the runs in the end.”

And who shot better. The Xplosion were 62 percent from the field in the second half.

“They just hit jump shot after jump shot in the second half,” Keathley said. “That really sealed the deal.”

Notes: Tuesday’s tip-off was delayed 25 minutes by the pre-game attraction, a celebrity basketball game featuring members of the Pittsburgh Steelers. … Miners co-owners Jay Fiedler and Demetrius Ford were in attendance.