The Huntsville Flight, playing their first game since swingman Ronald Dupree was called up to the NBA's Chicago Bulls last week, fell behind by as many as 22 points in the first half of their showdown with the first place Charleston Lowgators.
The Flight fought valiantly back to tie the game at 87-all after Ken Johnson nailed a couple of free throws late in the fourth quarter. But that was as close they would come to victory before an announced crowd 1,041 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.
Charleston, trying desperately to stop the Flight's late surge, found the answer in point guard Tierre Brown. In the final 3:48 of the game, Brown swished a face up jumper over Mateen Cleaves, hit two crucial free throws, and stripped the ball from Flight point guard Eric Barkley finding a streaking Alpha Bangura for a dunk. With the jam, the St. John's product nailed the coffin shut on the game and first place in the NBDL.
Charleston went on to win 100-91 and ran their record to 12-5 overall while the Flight's record dropped to 10-6. The game was Huntsville's third home loss in their last four contests at the VBC.
"We were able to withstand the rally by a very good Flight team," said Lowgators head coach Doug Marty. "They are a very talented team and to win here on their home court speaks volume of our team."
The Lowgators' volume to begin the game was thunderous. The scoreboard read 8-4 in favor of the Lowgators when the Flight's Cleaves picked up his second foul at the 8:27 mark of the first quarter.
After Cleaves headed to the bench, the Lowgators switched a full court press which befuddled the Flight and help spark a 22-6 run to end the first quarter. Charleston held a 30-10 advantage after the first period and extended that lead to as much as 22 points in the second quarter, going into the locker room with what appeared to be a insurmountable 58-37 halftime lead.
"Our team got out fast with our transition and our defense," said Marty. "And we did a sound job crashing the boards in the first half."
In the first half, the Lowgators corralled 26 rebounds to the Flight's 16.
"That told the tale of the first half," said Flight head coach Ralph Lewis. "We got outhustled, out-executed, and outfought, and you can't do that against a good team like Charleston."
The second half saw a different Flight squad. Phil Ricci began the half with a twisting lay-in and a dunk off a beautiful feed by Rod Grizzard to jumpstart the Flight.
Despite the fast start to cut the margin to 58-41 early in the third quarter, the Lowgators maintained their stranglehold on the game when they extended their lead back to 19 at 78-59 after a Jarod Gee step-away jump shot with 2:17 left in the third quarter.
But alas, the Flight was far from done. They retaliated with a 11-0 run through the last stages of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to cut the lead to 78-70 after Eric Barkley made a couple of freebies via the line.
The Flight would inch closer to a mere point at 85-84 after Marcus Fleming's highlight reel dunk with four minutes left in the final stanza.
After that emphatic statement by Fleming, Marty would make a statement of his own -- albeit perhaps not the way he envisioned.
Moments after a Rolan Roberts put back made the score 87-84, Marty went ballistic complaining about a possible goal-tending call. Fleming had partially blocked a lay-in attempt by Bangura that resulted in Roberts's lay-in.
The coach was hit with a technical foul and Huntsville's Rick Apodaca calmly went to the line and hit the free throw to cut the margin to two at 87-85.
"The technical foul on me could've been demoralizing, but fortunately, it wasn't," stated Marty. "I take the full blame for that tech and it could've cost our team the momentum and the game."
Johnson would tie the game at 87 on the Flight's following possession with a couple of free throws. But Brown would take over from there to close out the home team.
"We came on strong in the second half, but when you make mistakes during the late stages of any game, you won't win many games," said Lewis.
Bangura led the Lowgators with 20 points, while Roberts chipped in with 15 points and Brown contributed 12. Ricci led the Flight with 18 points, Barkley added 14, and Fleming contributed 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
