Flight Beats Fayetteville For First Time This Season, 83-74
Published on March 13, 2003 under NBA G League (G League)
Huntsville Flight News Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Mar. 13) â The fifth time was the charm for Huntsville.
After dropping all four previous games to Fayetteville this season, the Flight led for much of the second quarter and all of the second half to defeat the league-leading Patriots 83-74 here Thursday night at the Von Braun Center.
The win was the second straight and third in the last four games for the Flight (21-25) as they kept their playoff hopes alive. The Patriots (30-17), the only team to have clinched a postseason berth, lost for the second straight time.
In what could be described as a less than stellar shooting night for both teams â the Patriots shot 36.6 percent (26-71) while the Flight hit 34.6 percent (28-81) â Huntsville dominated the boards 53-38, including 19 offensive boards that led to 26 second-chance points.
"We didn't shoot that well but the guys played hard and with a lot of effort against a good basketball team," Flight coach Ralph Lewis said. "It is like the NCAA tourney now with one loss and we're out (of the playoff picture) and we know that. We have to keep this intensity and balanced play up to make the playoffs."
Huntsville used a balanced scoring attack as Art Long, Jermaine Walker and Curtis Staples each collected 11 points while Lonnie Harrell added 10. The Flight also got eight points each from Demetric Shaw and Bakari Hendrix, while Ike Nwankwo and Rodney Bias tallied seven.
The Patriots got a game-high 29 points from Devin Brown, while Junie Sanders tallied 14.
Bias led the Huntsville rebounding charge with a game-high 13 rebounds, while Long captured his first double-double for the Flight with 10 rebounds to go along with his 10 points.
For Fayetteville coach Jeff Capel, he likes the competitiveness that these teams have shown each other this season. Should the Flight make the playoffs, they would most likely face the Patriots in the opening round.
"Both teams really competed hard tonight," Capel said. "They made some tough shots and we missed some easy ones. I hope that they win out the rest of their games. That is one team that I like competing against. They play hard and really bring it at you."
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