Patriots Finally Outlast Dazzle in OT
December 13, 2002 - NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
If it wasn't already clear, it became clearer Friday night that Fayetteville Patriots wins over the Roanoke Dazzle will be hard to get this season.
But the difference between Friday and the previous two meetings is the Patriots came away with a win over the Dazzle . The Patriots got 49 points from their bench to capture an exciting 104-98 double overtime win. Matt Barnes came off the bench and broke out of a long shooting slump to lead the way with a season-high 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting. He also had seven rebounds and was a part of three Patriot non-starters who scored in double figures. Omar Cook and Bryan Lucas were the other two.
"I just needed some confidence,'' Barnes said. "My shot has been falling in practice, I've been working really hard, but it just hasn't been happening for me in games. Tonight I got the chance to get out there and get a flow. I when I got the flow, I felt pretty good pretty much all game."
Barnes, who came into the game shooting just 29.5 percent in his last six games, got himself going in the third quarter with a gliding slam dunk on the fastbreak , which tied the game at 58 and helped the Patriots erase a seven-point Roanoke lead.
Barnes then stole the ball from Roanoke center Mikki Moore and then netted a three to give the Patriots a commanding seven-point lead with 2:07 remaining in regulation. But the Dazzle never quit Friday. Roanoke Guard Cory Alexander capped off a 7-0 run in the final two minutes with a running jumper that bounced a high off the back of the rim a fell through to send the game into its first overtime.
The Patriots would have the lead in the final seconds of the first overtime, 92-90. But again the Dazzle refused let the game end. Jamal Robinson grabbed a rebound from a missed Devin Brown free throw with 15 seconds remaining and drove the length of the floor to score and send the game into overtime No. 2.
It would be where the Dazzle's resiliency ended. Lucas, who finished seven rebounds, scored on a layup in the second overtime that gave Fayetteville a 98-94 lead with 1:09 remaining. The Patriots would cling to that lead the rest of the way as Terrell McIntyre hit four free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. With those free throws he increased his consecutive free throws made streak to 30.
"You look at this box score and they have five guys in double figures,'' Patriots coach Jeff Capel said. "You look down at ours and it's the same. So we matched each other's intensity. It was like a street fight, a heavyweight fight. We would hit them and they would fall and get back up. They would deliver a blow to us and we would get back up. I don't think a couple weeks a go we would have gotten back up though. I'm glad to see we're getting tougher.."
Dazzle guard Richie Dalmau returned to Fayetteville Friday and played more minutes than he did in six games combined as a Patriot. Dalmau, the Patriots second round pick in this year's draft, scored 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Terrence Shannon and Cory Alexander each scored 20 points to lead the Dazzle, who dropped to 4-7 on the season and lost its first game to the Patriots this season. The Patriots are 6-6 with win and increased their winning streak to three. It matches the longest winning streak in team history.
"It's obvious it takes an entire team effort to beat them,'' Barnes said. "It took us two overtimes to finally beat them, but we got them."
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