Erick Barkley is a point guard. Simply put, he does things that any solid point guard would do -- he dishes the ball, plays solid defense, and pushes the ball well for the Huntsville Flight.
But another aspect of his game was on display against the first place Charleston Lowgators at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville before an announced crowd of 2,550. Taking a cue from a more well known and higher scoring Barkley, that would be Charles by the way, Erick poured in 30 points (18 of which came in the fourth quarter) for the Flight as they held on to defeat the Lowgators 92-84.
The win improved Huntsville's record to 13-10 overall while the loss dropped Charleston to 16-7.
"This win was a collective effort," said Flight head coach Ralph Lewis after the game. "Our team stepped up the defensive intensity in the second quarter and continued it in the second half."
After allowing the Lowgators 27 first quarter points, the Flight limited the Lowgators to 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting in the second stanza. While Huntsville did their best to thwart the Lowgators, they got things going themselves in the second quarter when they went to their bench.
Barkley nailed an open jump shot from the corner midway through the quarter to give Huntsville its largest lead of the first half at six points, 38-32.
"Our bench fed off of each other and played our part on defense," stated Barkley after the game.
The Flight took a 44-42 lead into the locker room. In the third quarter, the game was nip and tuck. Charleston would go up by three points, 56-53, with four minutes left in the third quarter after Albert Bangura nailed down two free throws. This would be the Lowgators' largest lead of the second half.
On the ensuing possession, Mateen Cleaves found Barkley for a short jumper with a thread the needle pass between two defenders to cut Charleston's lead to one. The Flight would take the lead moments later at 58-56 with two free throws from Rodney Bias.
"The end of the third quarter was a nice momentum turner for our team," said Lewis. "Barkley then came on in a big way in the fourth."
Well before Barkley took over in the fourth, Bias was there to clean up for the Flight. The 6'10 power forward, who's back on the team after recent knee surgery, tipped in a couple of baskets for the Flight.
After Bias' tip made the score 62-59 in favor of the Flight, Charleston's Hiram Fuller would score on a offensive put-back to cut the lead to one point at 62-61 with 10:15 left in the game.
Then it was Barkley's time. The St. John's product scored the next 11 points for the Flight with a mixture of free throws and jump shots. After Barkley's four-minute scoring onslaught, the Flight had a six-point lead at 73-67.
"I was just in sink with the offense tonight," said Barkley. "My shot repetitions were smooth and I was able to hit the shots the defense was giving me."
The Lowgators would cut the lead to three at 76-73 on an Ide Udoka three pointer with 3:40 left in the contest. On the ensuing possession, Barkley scored on a jump shot ala Richard Hamilton style as he slightly nudged his defender, Jason Miskiri, to create space for himself.
After a Lowgators' miss on the next possession, Barkley corralled the rebound and a streaking Rod Grizzard peered open through the transition defense. Barkley found him with a beautiful full court pass for a reverse lay-in to lift the Flight to a 81-73 lead with 1:57 left.
Huntsville would tack on free throws to win the contest 92-84.
"This was a huge win for us," said Barkley after the game.
Bias tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for Huntsville. Ken Johnson scored 12 points and blocked four shots for the Flight.
The Lowgators were led by Bangura's 24 points, followed by 12 points from Chuck Eidson.
