Altitude Soar to Sixth Straight Win

LaRue, in his first start of the season, also went 4-of-4 from the free throw line with two rebounds and two steals.

"Tonight was a total team effort. This was a very big game for us because of what's ahead," LaRue said, referring to Friday's matchup with the league-leading North Charleston Lowgators.

Asheville, winner of seven of its last 10 games, extended it winning streak to six and moved to 9-6 on the season. Greenville fell to 7-10 with three consecutive losses at Asheville. The Altitude defeated the Groove 66-61 in their first meeting on Nov. 18 and 77-74 in the second meeting Dec. 13.

"We played well in stretches," said Groove coach Milton Barnes. "We outrebounded them and took 30 more shots and still lost by double digits."

Asheville led by eight points at the end of the third quarter (66-58) before outscoring Greenville 13-8 over the next six minutes to extend its lead to 79-66 with 4:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.

"I told our guys before the game to not get complacent," said Altitude coach Joey Meyer. "We you have success against a team, you tend have letdowns. I thought our guys came out with a lot of intensity and our defense really came up with some big stops down the stretch."

In addition to LaRue, Asheville placed three other starters in double figures as Jermaine Tate, Chris Carrawell and Johnny Hemsley stepped up with big games. Tate, in his ninth start, scored a season-high 14 points with four rebounds, while Carrawell and Hemsley scored 13 points each. Carrawell also led the team in rebounding with nine boards.

Asheville also got contributions from its bench, as Lee Scruggs and Sergio McClain each chipped in with nine points.

Greenville was led in scoring by Ansu Sesay (18 points), DeeAndre Hulett (14 points) and Jeff Myers (10 points).