July 10, 2010 – Spokane, WA: The Spokane Shock defeated the Cleveland Gladiators tonight, 62-56 for its eleventh win of the season. With Spokane’s win and the combination of Arizona’s 55-50 loss to Chicago, the Shock have captured the Western Division Championship.

In a game that Spokane dominated for most of the contest, the Gladiators clawed their way back into it late in the fourth quarter. After Spokane’s offense had scored on every possession, Cleveland’s defense came up with its first stop late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Gladiators to score 14 unanswered points to tie it (56-56), sending the game into overtime.

After winning the coin toss in overtime, Spokane elected to kick it to Cleveland. On the Gladiators’ seventh play of the drive, QB John Dutton threw an interception that fell into the hands of Shock DB Travis Williams. Williams returned the interception 43-yards for the game winning touchdown.

Although it was Dutton’s only interception of the game, Spokane’s defense did force two Gladiator fumbles and recovered both of them. The first fumble was forced by LB Aaron Robbins and was recovered by DB Alex Teems. Teems’ recovery allowed Spokane to take its first lead of the game, 14-7, on a 13-yard touchdown pass from QB Kyle Rowley to WR Shaun Kauleinamoku.

DL Jeremy Geathers forced Dutton to fumble again in the second quarter, after recording a sack, which was recovered by DL Jerry Turner. One play later, Rowley connected with WR Huey Whittaker on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Shock a 21-7 lead.

Whittaker led the Shock’s receiving corps in receptions (11), yards (153) and touchdowns (5). Two of Whittaker’s five touchdown receptions were converted on fourth down. WR Greg Orton made his first start in a Shock uniform and recorded seven receptions for 70 yards including four-yard touchdown catch.

Rowley finished the night passing for 298 yards, completing 68% of his passes, with seven touchdowns.

Next week, the Shock will make their national television debut on the NFL Network’s “Arena Game of the Week” as they travel to Iowa and take on the Barnstormers. The Shock will return to Spokane Tribe Field on July 23^rd to take on the Chicago Rush, which will also be broadcast on the NFL Network. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by contacting TicketsWest.

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