Late Jumper Lifts Xplosion, 91-89
December 3, 2007 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Pittsburgh Xplosion News Release
PITTSBURGH, December 3, 2007 - Shaun Fountain's jumper with 5.3 seconds remaining lifted the Pittsburgh Xplosion to a 91-89 victory over the Albany Patroons tonight at the Petersen Events Center.
"Shaun is a very big part of what we're doing," head coach Carlos Knox said. "He has a knack for the ball at the end of games."
Fountain finished with 25 points to lead the Xplosion, with 21 of those coming in the second half.
It took an Xplosion comeback for Fountain to even have a chance to be the hero.
The Patroons opened a double digit lead early in the third quarter on a Nat Burton basket at 48-38. Burton paced Albany with 18 points.
But the Xplosion battled back to take the lead at 57-55 on a Fountain three pointer at the 3:20 mark. Pittsburgh led, 67-65, after three and also won the third quarter point.
"When we first came out, we felt like we were the better team," Knox said. "But then I felt like the complacency set in. I had to reiterate some things at halftime, and for the most part, the team responded.
The Xplosion did get off to a fast start, thanks in part to 12 first quarter turnovers by the Patroons. Pittsburgh's largest lead of the night came at the 4:28 mark of the first period on an Antonio Graves' three. Graves, who had 31 points Friday night in Yakama, scored 11 points in the opening quarter and finished with 23. Pittsburgh won the first quarter, 25-20.
The Patroons, who came into tonight's game averaging just under 20 turnovers in their four games, managed to turn the ball over 17 times in the first half but still lead by six at intermission. The Xplosion helped by shooting just 34.8 percent from the field in the first half and scoring just 11 points in the second quarter, losing the point, 22-11.
"It wasn't a pretty win, but we got the job done," Knox said. The Xplosion took 5.5 quarter points.
The Xplosion head back out west to face Minot Wednesday night before returning Thursday to host Minot at Mellon Arena. For more information, visit www.pittsburghxplosion.com.
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