Lowgators help their playoff position
March 11, 2003 - NBA G League (G League)
Charleston Lowgators News Release
North Charleston took a big step toward securing playoff spot by holding on to beat first-place Fayetteville 95-90 in overtime Tuesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.
"This was a big confidence booster for us because we were able to come in here and beat the best team in the league,'' North Charleston coach Doug Marty said. "This gets one step closer to the playoffs."
The Lowgators win coupled with losses by Columbus and Asheville put a bigger gap between the Lowgators and other playoff hopefuls. Corey Benjamin led the way for the Lowgators with 20 points, while Ty Shine added 17 points. Terrell McIntyre led Fayetteville with 16 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Despite Fayetteville leading by as many as eight in the first quarter, the Lowgators led by 17 at the half. The Patriots opened the second half on a 10-2 run, cutting the Gators lead to nine. The Patriots got to within four at the end of the third quarter on a Devin Brown layup. Jeff Aubry gave Fayetteville its first lead since the 8:38 mark of the second quarter as he it a layup to put the Patriots up by two with six minutes remaining.
The Patriots held a slim through most of the fourth quarter until with 9.1 seconds remaining Omar Cook fouled Corey Benjamin beyond the 3-point arc sending the former Atlanta Hawk to the line for three shots. Benjamin connected on all three free throws, tying the game at 80 and sending it into overtime.
Cook would put the Patriots up by one, 87-86, with 1:02 remaining in overtime. But Damon Brown would answer with a huge 3-ponter with 46 seconds remaining, giving North Charleston an 89-87 lead. The Lowgators would close things out from the line as they went 6-for-6 in the last 12.5 seconds of the game.
The Patriots would struggle from the line on Tuesday, as they hit just 16-for-34 from the line. It was a record low. Poor free throw shooting is not what disappointed Patriots coach Jeff Capel.
"I was more disappointed in our lack of effort in the first half,'' Capel said. "Why played like we played at the start I will never know. It was troublesome for me to see us play the way we did in the first half because that's not who we are. We were out of character."
The Patriots turned the ball over six times in the second quarter and shot just 23 percent in the quarter. The Patriots will try to rebound against Huntsville on Thursday. The Lowgators host Roanoke on Saturday.
"I'm proud of our guys,'' Marty said. "We kept fighting and kept putting ourselves in a position to win. It's the kind of effort we're going to need if we want in on the playoffs."
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