Kurtz\'s tip-in wins game for Altitude
Published on March 6, 2004 under NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
Asheville center Brandon Kurtz followed a Brandin Knight missed layup at the buzzer to give the Altitude a 115-113 win over the Fayetteville Patriots in front of 4,349 fans at the Crown Coliseum. The win gives Asheville (17-15) win No. 2 in a crucial three-game series with the Patriots. It also gives the Altitude a 5-1 record against the Patriots this season. The two teams play again on Friday at the Crown.
The Patriots fought back from a 12-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to cut the lead to four, 109-105, thanks to two Kenny Satterfield 3-pointers. The last three came with 3:06 remaining in the game. Satterfield, who finished the night with 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, didn't stop there.
He cut the lead to two on a driving layup 37 seconds later. After Asheville's Greg Stevenson scored on a layup to put the Altitude up 111-107, Junie Sanders hit one of two free throws to trim the lead to three.
Asheville forward Lavor Postell would hit two more free throws with 1:43 remaining, but Satterfield would answer by driving to the basket. He scored and drew a foul from Kareem Reid. His free throw cut the Altitude lead to two, 113-111.
Stevenson would give the Patriots the ball back when he ran over Jason Capel, committing an offensive foul. Capel would then tie the game at 113 when he followed up a Junie Sanders miss. Capel's tip would be a prelude because on the very next play Kurtz's follow won the game for the Altitude after Knight drove down a cleared lane.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time the way I draw it up is not the way it happens," Altitude coach Joey Meyer said. "But this time it pretty much went as planned except for Brandin missing the layup. They were coming pretty hard to the ball, so Brandin was able to slip past them and had a pretty good look.
"When he missed I thought we were going into overtime, I totally missed Brandon's tip-in."
Postell and Kurtz had 20 apiece, and Kurtz added 11 rebounds. Kris Lang, who is shooting 84 percent from the field against the Patriots this season, ended the night with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss puts the Patriots (16-19) a game-and-half behind the Huntsville Flight for the fourth and final playoff spot.
"We've got 11 games left and we're in for a fight for the fourth playoff spot,'' Patriots coach Jeff Capel said. "We've just got to come together as a team and do what we did in the last five or six minutes of this game. That's the way I'd like for us to play â all out effort, fighting and scrapping."
In addition to Sattefield, Jason Capel also had a big night with 19 points and nine rebounds. Britton Johnsen added 16.
"Every game is big in this league,'' Meyer said. "If you look at the standings, there is not much difference from one to six. I thought we would get a pretty easy one tonight when we were up 10 with four minutes remaining. But Satterfield brought me back to reality. Every game from here on out is going to be a fight."
NBA G League Stories from March 6, 2004
- Kurtz's tip-in wins game for Altitude - Fayetteville Patriots
- Flight Falls to Roanoke - Huntsville Flight
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