Dazzle Top Patriots

The Patriots (5-14) led 46-45 at halftime, but less than four minutes into the third quarter, Roanoke (8-11) built a 57-48 lead. The Dazzle committed only five second-half turnovers, and small forward Marshall Phillips played big for Roanoke.

"Some nights, you just need a pair of pliers," said Dazzle Coach Kent Davison, after his team withstood 24 points and 13 rebounds from Fayetteville forward Greg Stempin. "It's like pulling teeth some times. I told the guys I need to see one of those seance ladies, to have them look into the crystal ball, and look in there and tell me which ones are going to play which night."

"We did some good things. We came out and really got after Fayetteville in the third quarter. We went from one down (46-45 at halftime) to about 10 ahead (a 57-48 lead). A lot of it was off some really good offensive sets, and then also getting the ball and getting it up and down the floor."

The Dazzle were led by guard Artie Griffin's 22 points, including five three-pointers, matching the Roanoke single-game high. For the second straight meeting in a series Roanoke leads 3-0, the Dazzle outscored the Patriots 7-0 on goals from behind the arc.

Fayetteville had its chances, but Phillips ruined them. The Dazzle forward had 10 of his 18 points and 7 of his 9 rebounds in the final quarter. Roanoke also got 16- and 14-point games off the bench from big-man Skip Youngblood and guard Andre McCollum, respectively. Youngblood also had eight rebounds.

"Marshall Phillips always seems to play well against us," said Fayetteville Coach Nate "Tiny" Archibald. "In the fourth quarter, he just took over the game. We just didn't execute coming down the stretch. They went to a lot of isolations, and Phillips got off."

"They were aggressive on offense and played very aggressive on defense. We can't seem to find those leadership qualities in our guys to come down the stretch and take over games. Their big people weren't hurting us and our big people weren't hurting them. Kent matched up with some quickness, (Artie) Griffin shot some bombs on us, but the I thought the key was Phillips. I wish I could get our guys to play like that."

Roanoke point guard Danny Earl matched the Dazzle high with eight assists. Stempin wasn't alone in a double-double performance for the Patriots. Antwain Smith, off the bench, had 16 points and 12 rebounds, as Fayetteville outrebounded the Dazzle, but made only 50 percent of its free throws (14 of 28).

"We seem to have a lapse for five or six minutes," Stempin said. "They made a run and we couldn't get back into the game. Anytime you get used to the free throw line 28 times you should win the game."

Griffin said the Dazzle, when trailing at halftime, were told by Davison, "We had to make Fayetteville work to come back, and not just give it to them by making turnovers. We've been doing that too much. We've got to run sets like we can. When we do it right, we'll get a look. Coach D. does a good job getting us a lot of shots in practice. That's why we've been shooting well. Still, I think we can shoot it better than we have been."

The Dazzle stays home for the weekend as Columbus and Huntsville make their first trips to the Roanoke Civic Center. The Riverdragons visit Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and the Flight and Dazzle play their first meeting in history Sunday at 3 p.m. in a Fox Sports Net South telecast game. Fayetteville visits Greenville on Saturday in a 1 p.m. tipoff.

"No question, it's one thing we talked about is trying to go as well as we can on this home stretch during the holidays," Davison said. "Getting a little streak going during the holidays is the thing that will get us back to .500, and get us back toward an opportunity to get into that top four (for the playoffs), where we want to be."