Flight Sneak Past Patriots
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Dec. 7 -- The entire game was like a ping-pong match with the score being tied after the first quarter. At the end of the half, the Flight led by one, 45-44. The score was tied 15 times throughout this clash of the titans and the lead changed 13 times.
"Tonight we just did not play consistently all four quarters," said Patriots Head Coach Nate "Tiny" Archibald. "We played a good Huntsville team that came here ready to play and they were just more aggressive tonight."
The Patriots got tremendous play out of newly acquired guard Danny Johnson with 10 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Johnson is a Morganton, N.C., native and former College of Charleston and IBL standout.
"It's taken awhile to get adjusted to the NBDL (National Basketball Development League), but hopefully we can get a rhythm going here soon," said Johnson. "The team played good defense, but just came up short in the final minutes."
On the night, the Patriots shot 48 percent from the field and 71 percent from the charity strip.
Patriots center Darrell Johns played 21 minutes and was 4-of-7 shooting on the night. He had nine points and five rebounds.
Osiris Ricardo and Ron Kelley combined for a total of 18 points for the night. Terrell McIntyre finished up with 15 and Greg Stempin followed with 10 points.
During third quarter action, the Patriots had 11 fouls to the Flight's two.
The fourth quarter was pretty much all Patriots. The Flight hit their first six shots of the fourth quarter and lead by as many as 11 with the score 60-71, but then ran cold as the Patriots began clawing their way back at the 5:50 mark with a McIntyre 3-pointer which had the score 64-77.
For about six minutes nothing was falling for the Flight; the Patriots were in control. The Flight finally got a bucket with 3:24 left in the game making the score 71-79. With 3:04 on the clock, McIntyre went in for a driving lay-up cutting the score to 73-79. Johns then slammed one in and the Patriots were within four.
With 1:28 left on the clock, McIntyre shot a free throw putting the Patriots within three. John Strickland scored two with a layup and the Patriots were behind by only one.
Huntsville then gained possession of the ball and with 8.7 seconds left, the Flight's Lonnie Harrell missed a jump shot, Strickland rebounded and Archibald quickly called a timeout and then another.
The Patriots got the ball back down court, but couldn't convert.
"These close games are the worse and this is extremely frustrating," said Johns.
The Flight's guard Terrance Roberson was on point with 6-of-11 shooting from the field, tallying five rebounds and 17 points total. He was one of four Flight players in double figures. Shelly Clark had 16, Jimmy Hunter had 11 and Jeremy Veal followed with 10.
The Flight shot 69 percent from the free throw line and outscored the Patriots 15 to six in second chance points.
