Patriots lose close game, slip in the standings
Published on February 13, 2004 under NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
The Columbus Riverdragons used their strength and prevented the Fayetteville Patriots from using theirs to earn a 97-94 win, Saturday at the Crown Coliseum. Columbus guard Adam Harrington led the way with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Reserve point guard Jeff Myers scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half.
The Patriots fall to 13-13 and drop to fifth in the standings with Asheville's win on Friday night. The Riverdragons improve to 8-19. Jason Collier and Jason Capel had 18 points apiece for the Patriots. Chudney Gray ended the night with eight points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
"We had a lot of confidence coming in here because we've beat this team here,'' said Columbus forward Terence Morris, who finished with nine points, seven boards, two blocks and had a key steal near the end of the game. "Our guards did a good job of getting open off screens and penetrating and I thought we did a good job of pushing them off the block. The inside game is their bread and butter, so we had to make it tough for them in there."
The Patriots out-rebounded the Riverdragons 41-37. But the Patriots, who get to the line an average of 31 times per game, were held to just 18 free throw attempts. Collier, who came into the game having hit 23 of 27 free throws in five games versus Columbus, went to the line twice.
"We've got to be aggressive when we get the ball down in the post,'' Patriots coach Jeff Capel said. "Our bigs have got to start to going through people and stop putting up fade away jump shots. Not saying that Columbus didn't make it tough for us inside. Their team played well. But we've got to put forth a better effort."
After not playing all night, Patriots guard Kent Williams entered the game with 11:17 remaining in the fourth quarter. He made the best of his time as he gave the Patriots a spark with 7 ½ minutes remaining in the game.
With the Patriots down five, Williams connected on a 3-point shot and was fouled by Derrick Zimmerman. The four-point play pulled the Patriots to within one. Williams gave the Patriots the lead after he stole the ball from Zimmerman and scored on a layup, giving the Patriots an 85-84 advantage with 6:59 to play.
The Patriots held on to the lead until Erron Maxey put the Riverdragons back in front by one a minute-and-half later. The Patriots would never lead again. Harrington put the Riverdragons up for good when he came off a Kevin Lyde screen to a hit a jumper that gave Columbus a 92-90 lead with 1:10 to play. Fayetteville had a chance to tie the score, but Morris stole the ball from Gray with 30.2 seconds remaining to seal the win.
"I thought we played soft on both ends of the floor," Capel said. "We didn't do a good job of defending on the defensive end and we didn't do as good a job as we have been doing with posting up our big guys on the offensive end of the floor."
The Patriots travel to Charleston to play the Lowgators tonight at 7, while the Riverdragons head to Asheville to play the Altitude at 7:15.
NBA G League Stories from February 13, 2004
- Patriots lose close game, slip in the standings - Fayetteville Patriots
- Thirteen proves to be lucky for Altitude - Asheville Altitude
- Patriots Pick Up Former Buckeye - G League
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