LANSING, MI – The Lansing Pharaohs have clinched a playoff spot in the Upper Midwest division of The Basketball League (TBL) in their inaugural season. With one week left in the regular season of the TBL, the Pharaohs have secured the #3 spot in the division with a 13-9 record. They will advance to the playoffs with the #1 Jamestown Jackals (18-4) and #2 Toledo Glass City (16-6).
The Upper Midwest Division consists of 7 teams, 3 from Michigan (Detroit, Flint, Lansing), 3 from Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo), and 1 from New York (Jamestown). The playoffs will begin with a 3-game series between the second and third-place teams in the division while the first-place team will get a bye and then play the winner.
“Our goal was to make the playoffs and we did that. But that doesn’t mean that it’s over with,” stated Lansing Pharaoh’s head coach, Scott Newman. Newman added, “As a team, we want to try and go as far as we can”.
The Pharaohs will match up against Toledo Glass City in the first round of the playoffs, a team Lansing has gone 1-2 against in the regular season. Toledo is a team that features great guard play that all begins with their star point guard and TBL All-star Game MVP, Chris Darrington. Darrington, who played college basketball at the University of Tennessee before transferring back home to the University of Toledo, has scored an average of 38.7 PPG against Lansing this season.
“We really just need to stop one guy and let someone else on their team beat us, that will decide the outcome of the series,” stated Lansing native and former Lansing Community College standout Ja’Myrin Jackson. That “one guy” of course is Darrington. Jackson is ecstatic to be getting his first taste of the playoffs this season after the Flint United squad he played for last year was unable to reach them. “Making the playoffs feels amazing, it’s awesome because you get to still play basketball,” said Jackson.
The Pharaohs will play their first game of the playoffs at home on Wednesday, June 1st at 7:00 PM at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse. The team will then travel to Toledo over the weekend to play the last two games of the series at Toledo, game dates and times TBD.
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The Lansing Pharaohs are a professional basketball club playing their inaugural season in The Basketball League (TBL), a new men’s professional development/showcase league with 42 teams in over 20 states. The TBL consists of players from a range of D1 to community colleges looking to start their professional careers and veterans who have played extensive careers overseas looking to continue their careers closer to home. 3 former TBL players have gone on to play in the NBA while 12 have gone to the G-League and countless amounts have signed international professional contracts.