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Flame Blast Fayetteville, 109-86, in MLK Showcase

January 15, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Florida Flame News Release


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., January 15 - Theron Smith put together his second 29-point performance in the last three games to lead the Florida Flame to a 109-86 victory over the Fayetteville Patriots in the third game of the annual D-League MLK Showcase at the Crown Coliseum on Sunday.

After spotting the Patriots a 12-point advantage in the early going, Florida roared back to lead by as many as 25, outscoring Fayetteville by 30 over the final three periods. The victory allows the Flame to hold on to first place in the league standings at 12-7, one-half game ahead of Albuquerque at 11-7. Fayetteville dipped to 4-12, losing to Florida for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

"We came out sluggish in the first quarter and I've been trying all year to stop these guys from doing that," Florida coach Jeff Malone said. "We talked about stepping up, especially in a situation like this with all these (NBA) personnel people watching. In the second half we did.

"Earl Barron and Theron Smith really stepped it up for us and provided us with the energy we needed over the final three quarters." Malone said. "When we play the game the right way we are a pretty good team."

Barron recorded his second straight double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds in front of over 50 NBA scouts, general managers, assistant general managers and player personnel directors. Andre Barrett contributed 16 points and George Leach had 12. Dwayne Jones had 10 rebounds for the Flame, who shot over 50-percent (38-74, 51.4) from the floor for the fifth consecutive game.

Mike King came off the bench to lead the Patriots in scoring with 17 points. Melvin Sanders followed with 13, while Erik Daniels was the only Fayetteville starter to score in double figures with 12 points. First-round NBA Draft selection Gerald Green, playing his first game since being assigned to the Patriots from the Boston Celtics, scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes.

"We shot ourselves in the foot. These guys have to be mentally tough enough to fight through the fact that we're missing shots," Fayetteville head coach Mike Brown said, "but we let that bother us and it affects our game, then we can't sustain the other team's run."

"Gerald looked good," Brown said. "He is very athletic and very energetic. And he has a lot to learn, too."

Florida plays the Arkansas RimRockers Monday at 2 p.m. ET. Fayetteville will close the Showcase against Roanoke with an 8 p.m. ET tipoff.

To access the boxscore click on the link below:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20060115/FLAFAY/boxscore.html

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