Mike Ward scored a career-high 41 points as the Vancouver Volcanoes posted a 164-120 International Basketball League victory Friday against the East Bay Pitbulls at Las Positas College in Livermore, Calif.
Ward made 16 of 24 shots and was 9 of 15 from behind the 3-point arc.
Seven Volcanoes players were in double figures against East Bay, an IBL branding team playing a limited schedule.
Chehales Tapscott scored 25 points to go with 16 rebounds. Kevin West had 21 points, Garrett Sim 19, Andre Murray and Kevin Bloodsaw 17 each, and Paul Haford had 16. Josh Tarver had 14 assists to go with eight points and eight rebounds.
Jay Thomas led East Bay (0-5) with 34 points and 11 rebounds in the team’s final game of the season.
Vancouver (14-4) will close out its home schedule at 5 p.m. Sunday against the Japan Tornadoes. It will be Fan Appreciation Night at the O’Connell Sports Complex with free food, drinks and a variety of family activities.
The Volcanoes have secured a semifinal spot in the IBL playoffs and will face the Portland Chinooks at 2:30 p.m. July 4 at Eastmoreland Courts in Portland. The championship game is 7 p.m. July 5, also at Eastmoreland.
VANCOUVER VOLCANOES 164, EAST BAY PITBULLS 120
VANCOUVER (14-4) — Bloodsaw 7-10 3-3 17, Ward 16-24 0-0 41, Tarver 3-9 2-2 8, Sim 7-19 0-0 19, Tapscott 10-19 3-3 25, West 10-14 0-4 21, Murray 7-17 0-3 17, Haford 5-13 3-4 16. Totals 65-125 14-21 164.
EAST BAY (0-5) — J. Boreman 4-12 6-8 14, Mouton 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 14-24 5-7 34, I. Bowman 8-14 2-2 19, Thomas 9-18 5-5 24, Johnson 14-17 1-3 29, Martin 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 49-93 19-25 120.
Vancouver 43 34 37 50–164
East Bay 31 29 32 28–120
