Asheville Cruises Past Fayetteville

The Altitude's Jason Hart led his team with 19. The win is the fourth in a row for the Altitude and extends their lead in the season series with the Patriots to 3-1. In their last encounter, Fayetteville blew a 20-point halftime lead and the Altitude's Lee Scruggs hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift Asheville over the Patriots 96-94.

The Altitude improved to 7-6, while the Patriots fell to 3-11.

"We didn't focus on the game, and that includes coaches and players," said Patriots coach Nate "Tiny" Archibald. "Collectively, we didn't have the energy and we did too much finger-pointing amongst ourselves.

"Maybe four days off was too much for us. We didn't make a 40-minute commitment. We definitely have to make a full commitment on defense."

Despite the Patriots' control of the defensive boards during the first quarter of play, the Altitude outshot Fayetteville from the field, 50 to 35 percent. The Altitude led at the end of the quarter 23-17.

"Tonight we just did a tremendous job on guarding the ball," said Altitude coach Joey Meyer. "We've really improved since we've acquired (Paul) Grant and (Rusty) LaRue."

The Patriots' Smith came off the bench during the second quarter and scored 13 points in eight minutes while grabbing five rebounds. The Altitude's Jimmy King pumped in seven points in 11 minutes while Scruggs established himself in the paint with five rebounds. The Patriots outscored the Altitude 26-21 to pull within one at the half 44-43.

The Patriots came out cold from the locker room, scoring only one point in the first four minutes of the third quarter. They relied heavily on bench play from Danny Johnson and Smith. Collectively, they had nine of the 13 third-quarter Patriots points. Asheville's starting five came alive, led by Chris Carrawell, who played the full 10 minutes and scored eight third-quarter points. The Altitude outrebounded the Patriots 15-6.

"In this league, you play the same teams so many times that you begin to feel what all the teams are going to run on you and how to stop them," Carrawell said. "Tonight, the key was to control John Strickland. We just shut him down."

With more than 6½ minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Altitude's lead grew to 15 after a three-pointer by King. A Patriots run was defused after Strickland was hit with a technical foul after making a layup to cut the lead to 10. Smith hit a much-needed three-pointer at the 3:50 mark to keep the Patriots within 10. But tough defense by Scruggs and Hart allowed the Altitude to push the lead back up to 17.

Two late turnovers by the Patriots helped close the door on a 15-point victory by the Altitude.

"We're almost there, we've got small things to work on defensively," Smith said. "I'm just glad to be a part of this team. I'll do whatever the coaches want me to do and I'll do it to the best of my ability."

In addition to Hart pouring in 19 points, four other Altitude players were in double figures: Grant with 18, King with 16 and Carrawell and Johnny Hemsley with 11 apiece.

Fayetteville had three other players in double figures besides Smith: Johnson with 19, Terrell McIntyre with 13 and Strickland with 10.