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Patriots' Second Half Surge Too Much For Flame

March 5, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Florida Flame News Release


ESTERO, Fla., March 5 - Playing without its top three scorers, the Florida Flame had no answers against an improved Fayetteville Patriots club on Sunday night, as the Patriots earned their second straight win with a 113-83 victory at Germain Arena.

The loss dropped the Flame (20-15) into third place in the NBA Development League standings and sent Florida to its fifth straight defeat. Fayetteville (8-24) tallied just its second win on the road this season and second in eight head-to-head meetings with the Flame.

Rick Rickert led six Patriots in double figures, posting a double-double with a team-high 17 points and game-high 14 rebounds. George Leach led the way for Florida with a game-high and personal season-high 19 points in defeat.

Leading by five points at halftime, 53-48, Fayetteville dominated the second half, outscoring the Flame 60-45 after the break to hand Florida its biggest home loss of the season.

"We played with a purpose for a half but it just wasn't good enough," said Flame Head Coach Jeff Malone. "It's tough to go without your top three scorers but we didn't step up when we needed to in the second half. Give Fayetteville credit, they took advantage of our mistakes in the third and fourth quarters and elevated their play."

The Patriots took control of the game in the third quarter as Amir Johnson and Alex Acker, both on assignment from the Detroit Pistons, tallied 10 points combined in a 17-7 run over the final 5:44 of the period to grab a commanding 84-69 lead heading into the fourth.

Fayetteville put the game out of reach mid-way through the final period with a 16-6 run. Leading 90-75 with 9:15 remaining, Johnson was fouled on a lay-up and finished off the three-point play with a foul shot to start the rally. Jumpers from Ryan Randle, Rick Rickert, and Darnell Miller helped the Patriots build the advantage to a game-high 25 points, at 106-81 with 4:43 to go.

Along with Rickert's team-high 17 points, Johnson notched 16 points for Fayetteville. Acker posted 14, Mateen Cleaves hit for 12 points, while Kevin Johnson and Randle scored 11 and 10 points respectively.

Six players scored in double figures for the Flame. Along with Leach's 19 points, Lenny Stokes registered 16 points, Corey Sanders tallied 13 points, E.J. Rowland connected for 11 points, while Austin Nichols and Jonathan Moore hit for 10 points in the loss.

The Flame and Patriots round out their two-game set this Tuesday, March 7 with a 5 p.m. tip-off at Germain Arena.

For additional information, please visit floridaflame.com or contact Florida Flame Director of Media Relations, Tim Becwar at (239) 561-8130 and tbecwar@floridaflame.com. For additional information on the NBA Development League please visit NBADLEAGUE.com.

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