Greenville Stops Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 4 -- The Patriots and Groove traveled back to Fayetteville to face each other in the Crown Coliseum on Friday after inclement weather postponed Thursday's game in Greenville. The Friday matchup ended with the Groove beating the Patriots for the sixth time 80-70.
Billy Thomas led the Groove with 16 points. The win against the Patriots put the Groove at 12-12 while the Patriots fell to 5-16.
"Tonight we just mishandled the basketball and did not play defense on the other end," said Patriots coach Nate Archibald. "This enabled the Groove to capitalize on our mistakes."
The Groove outshined the Patriots for the first six minutes of the game. The Patriots went cold at the 5:52 mark and stayed that way for about three minutes, but were sparked by heads-up play from forward John Strickland, who led the Patriots with six points, and center Darrell Johns, who came off the bench with a key block and a 10-foot jumper.
Patriots reserve Antwain Smith contributed with three points to include a slam dunk while Jeff Aubry contributed with five rebounds. The Groove's Thomas led his team with six points and Tom Wideman had four points and six rebounds. The Groove led at the end of the first quarter 20-17. The Groove led 37-36 at the end of the half, and 60-55 after three quarters.
The Patriots couldn't gain any momentum while the Groove stayed consistent on the offensive end of the floor in the fourth quarter. The Groove were led by Rahim Lockhart's strong rebounding and six late-period points. The Groove's starting five held its ground by playing the majority of the final period. Poor shooting was the Patriots' downfall, evidenced by four missed lay-ups and one missed dunk.
"In the fourth quarter we did not play defense and turned the ball over too many times," said Patriots guard Terrell McIntyre. "We did not play hard tonight, which is what you have to do to win ball games."
Three Patriots players were in double figures: Strickland led with 17, McIntyre 15 and Greg Stempin 10. Two other players joined the Groove's Thomas in double figures: Lockhart with 14 and Wideman followed with 12.
