Fayetteville recovers from weak start to rout Flame
March 9, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., March 9 - The Fayetteville Patriots rebounded from a lethargic opening six minutes - thanks to a timely timeout and a stern talking-to by coach Mike Brown - and rolled to a balanced 135-95 win over the Florida Flame in NBA Development League action at the Crown Coliseum Thursday night.
Eight players contributed more than 20 minutes and eight scored in double figures as Fayetteville posted its third win in four games and improved to 9-25. The Flame dropped to 21-16.
"Everyone did a great job tonight," Brown said. "We played unselfish and everyone got to play some good minutes. As coaches, we like that."
The Flame jumped out early and built a 15-8 lead on the shooting of Lenny Stokes, who scored eight points in the first five minutes. At the mandatory timeout with 5:24 left in the period, Brown challenged his team.
"I told them we were letting down on defense and they were just scoring too easy on us," he said. "We are a team that needs our defense to generate opportunities for us. We just needed to lock down."
When play resumed, Amir Johnson and Kevin Lyde each hit a pair of free throws, Melvin Sanders scored on a layup and Lyde dropped a short jumper to cut the lead to one. Johnson followed with a layup to put the Patriots up to stay. Fayetteville outscored Florida 19-6 after the pivotal timeout, and by the seven-minute mark of the second the lead was at 20.
"They got us tonight," said Flame coach Jeff Malone, whose leading scorer and leading rebounder, Bracey Wright and Theron Smith respectively, both missed the game with injuries. "Yeah, we were missing some guys but that's no excuse. We just didn't compete. Sometimes, lesser talent rears its ugly head in a game like this and we need some guys to step up."
Johnson finished with 22, while Mateen Cleaves had 20. Erik Daniels added 18, Ryan Randle 14, and Lyde and Alex Acker had 13 each. Darnell Miller scored 11 points and dished out seven assists. Cleaves and Acker each had four assists.
"All of our guys contributed tonight," Brown said. "You can tell by the way the assists were spread out, we shared the ball. We made the extra pass."
Stokes led all scorers with 24. Jonathan Moore added 19 and Torrian Jones had 13.
The two teams square off again Saturday night for Harley Davidson Rock & Roll Night at the Crown. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.
The D-League offers players the opportunity to develop their talent in a highly competitive atmosphere under the NBA's umbrella. Thirty-four (34) players have been called up to the NBA on 50 separate occasions. Ten (10) former D-League coaches, five athletic trainers, 11 referees and 30 front office executives have also been called up since the start of the league's inaugural season in November of 2001.
Designed to help grow the sport of basketball both domestically and internationally, the league also offers fun, family entertainment at affordable prices. The D-League is a source of on-court talent for the NBA's 30 teams and is a diverse human resources pool for the NBA and its teams by training employees in management, operations, public relations, sales and marketing positions. For more information on the Patriots, visit fayettevillepatriots.com or call (910) 213-1005.
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NBA G League Stories from March 9, 2006
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- Fayetteville recovers from weak start to rout Flame - Fayetteville Patriots
- NBA D-League daily developments - G League
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