Revelers Rally to Down Dazzle

The Revelers’ three-game winning streak looked to be in trouble at the Roanoke Civic Center. Coach Sam Vincent’s club trailed 44-27 at halftime in a battle between the league’s two best-shooting teams. For the final 20 minutes, it was a different game.

Mobile (8-5) made 13 of its 27 field goal attempts in the second half, while the Dazzle (5-7) were 6-for-26. Roanoke, trailing 66-63, thought it had the game tied on Artie Griffin’s basket with 2.4 seconds left. However, Griffin’s foot was ruled to have been on the 3-point arc, and the hoop was ruled a two-pointer as the Revelers celebrated.

“We let it come down to that last play, and we never should have let that happen,” said Roanoke Coach Kent Davison. “There were plenty of plays before that, if we make one or two, it’s different.”

Mobile arose from 30 percent marksmanship in the first half, and guards Isaac Fontaine scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the final 20 minutes. The Revelers also committed only 11 turnovers, while the Dazzle continued to struggle in that category, committing 21.

The Dazzle, averaging 21 turnovers per game, have 119 turnovers in their last five games. It was a second consecutive impressive win for the second-place Revelers, who came to the Star City after handing league-leading North Charleston its only home loss on Thursday night, 94-75.

“We were flat early, but the guys bounced back in the second half,” Vincent said. “Defensively, we were able to shut them down to win the game.

“I really have to give the guys credit for how they played in the second half. Offensively, it was just not pretty. The legs were tired, the shots were short, but defensively, we shot them down and that’s how you win games.”

Griffin’s last-gasp basket was his only hoop of the second half, after he hit a Roanoke season-high five three-pointers in the first half. Forward Marshall Phillips, the Dazzle’s No. 2 scorer on the season, struggled on a 1-for-12 night. Roanoke was 7-for-10 on threes in the first half – 0-for-7 from long distance in the second half.

“I thought I was behind the line; I guess I was on it,” Griffin said. “I thought I was plenty far behind it when I started into my jump [before double-pumping to avoid a Mobile defender]. I guess I wasn’t back far enough.”

The Dazzle had their best performance off the bench of the season, as guard Andre McCollum led Roanoke with 18 points, while Skip Youngblood added 10 points and nine rebounds. Anthony Johnson and Derek Hood had 10 points apiece for the Revelers, who visit Asheville on Sunday. The Dazzle stay home for a Sunday afternoon date against Greenville.

“We had to play some defense,” Fontaine said. “We got a couple of shots to fall, and we got lucky and came back.”

The Dazzle scored a season-low nine points in the fourth quarter, and were outscored 39-21 in the second half. Roanoke is 2-3 at home, where it is shooting 40.3 percent. The Dazzle’s road field-goal percentage is .471.

“We just stopped them up,’ said Mobile center Dwayne Schintzius. “That’s what was going to win for us. It was a great win for us, and we’ll go from here.”

Quotes

Dazzle Coach Kent Davison:

“We just can’t find a way to get out of these funks we fall into (21 points in second half, 9 points in fourth quarter). We’ve just got to find a way to handle these situations. We get in these spots, then we find ourselves in foul trouble.”

(On guard Artie Griffin scoring 15 first-half points, then two points in the second half, when backup Andre McCollum had 13 of his 18): “It’s a four-quarter game. You need other guys to step up and play. What keeps hurting us over and over are turnovers, and [lack of] offensive rebounding. That’s the key. We had a lot of things we could have done but what it came down to was we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.

“When you’re leading like we were (44-27 at halftime), we need to take control. We keep allowing other teams back in it. I can’t hardly believe it. We got through some great stretches, then others where we can’t get anything done.”

Revelers coach Sam Vincent:

“At halftime, I just did a lot of screaming. It rallied the guys and gave them some motivation and they came out and played a lot better.”

Roanoke guard Artie Griffin:

“If I could explain why we go through these bad stretches, we wouldn’t be doing it, and we’d be winning. We’re still trying to find out whaqt’s going wrong. As for myself, I’ve never been on a team that has lost so much (2-3) so early at home. I’ve usually been on teams that have started out 9-1 or 10-0 at home. We’ve got to find a way to play better here.”