Revelers Defense Too Much For Groove
MOBILE, Ala., Dec. 6, 2001 - The Mobile Revelers won 78-70 over the Greenville Groove, the first of a two game match-up.
The Mobile Revelers were coming off two tough losses to North Charleston and instate rival Huntsville Flight and wanted to prove they could play a full 40-minutes. Tonight, they proved just that shooting 49.2% from the floor with majority of the shots in the paint (30-61).
“Tonight, the team played better defensively and came out to win. They did overall the things they needed to do in the stretch. We rotated on offense and really picked it up on defense,” said Sam Vincent, Mobile Revelers Head Coach.
Averaging 9 rebounds for the game, the Revelers were not at a loss without their veteran big-man Dwayne Schitzius, who was bed-ridden by flu-like symptoms. In the second quarter, they were able to pull down a total of 12 rebounds. With their veterans present, the Groove was only able to shoot 42.2 percent from the field and pull down 31 total rebounds.
“Overall I am very pleased with the team. We are on the edge of turning the corner for a good team. The guys are a good mix. We have veterans with a few first year guys that are contributing well. This is a long season, and I feel we will be able to do great things,” said Head Coach Milton Barnes.
Jason McCutcheon stopped Greenville’s Ansu Sesay with defensive pressure, which opened the floor for Derek Hood to accomplish his second double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Isaac Fontaine, the Revelers leading scorer, came out hot finishing with 20 points. Newly acquired Troy Rolle contributed 11 rebounds for the Revelers win.
Ansu Sesay, Greenville’s strongest player, lead in scoring with 18-points,but just was not strong enough to pull out the win. Eric Chenowith was second with 10 points. Rahim Lockhart contributed eight rebounds.
“I look at the minutes the guy contributed, and with three new guys, I feel we played well. We need to get familiar with each other’s play. The team overall did a good job until the last two to three minutes of the game,” said Coach Barnes.
“We have a good feel for what to expect on Saturday. Isaac played with control and came up big for us offensively. Jason did an excellent job shutting down Sesay. Overall we played good ball, but will need to play even better on Saturday,” said Coach Vincent.
