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Altitude roll in home opener

November 21, 2004 - NBA G League (G League)
Asheville Altitude News Release


ASHEVILLE – Antonio Meeking continued his early season dominance scoring 26 points in 20 minutes as the Asheville Altitude rolled over the Huntsville Flight 97-71 at the Asheville Civic Center.

Seeing limited action due to foul trouble, Meeking made the most of his scoring going 11-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.

As a team, Asheville shot lights out on the night going 36-for-66 (54.5 percent) from the field. Forward Ron Slay came off the bench to score 17 points while Nate Burton chipped in with nine. Earl Barron led the way for the Flight (0-2) with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Joe Shipp added 14 points.

Huntsville shot just 37.5 percent from the field and was out-rebounded 40-26.

"We've got to get better defensively," said Huntsville head coach Ralph Lewis. "We can't let guys have nights like the one Meeking had tonight. And, it's not just at that position. We've got to play better defensively as an entire unit."

After a slow start to begin the game, the Altitude (2-0) finally found its scoring touch with Meeking leading the way going 4-of-4 in the first period. Asheville opened up a 23-15 lead to end the first shooting a red-hot 62.5 percent from the field.

Leading by eight, Asheville opened the second quarter with a 17-2 run to extend its lead to 45-27. During the run, it was the Altitude's unselfish play that kept the Flight off balance.

"I think we've got real good team chemistry," said Meeking. "The guys from last year, we kind of set the tone for the other guys early on. And so far, they've bought into the concept of playing basketball as a team. And if we can continue to do that, we should be able to come out and play this way every night."

With a 17-point halftime lead (52-35), Asheville used a 16-2 run to open the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Asheville's lead ballooned to 33 points to end the third quarter and got as high as 36 points midway through the fourth.

"This is certainly a different start than what we've had in years past," said Altitude head coach Joey Meyer. "I thought we played a very solid game out there tonight. It got a little sloppy the last six minutes and I'm not happy with that, but for the most part, I thought we showed a lot of character early on.

"And even though we've won both of our games by more than 20 points, that doesn't mean we're a good team. But I would much rather be 2-0 instead of 0-2."

Huntsville's next game will be at home, Nov. 27 hosting the Columbus Riverdragons. The Altitude have the week off before hosting the Riverdragons Nov. 29 at home.

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