Grundy Nets 32 as Dazzle Extinguish the Flame

ROANOKE, Va., Dec. 28 – The Roanoke Dazzle got 58 points from their potent guard combo of Anthony Grundy -- who scored a game-high 32 points -- and Will Bynum with 26 points to lead the Dazzle to a 111-103 victory over the Florida Flame. With the win the Dazzle snapped the Flame’s season-high five-game winning streak.

The game was close at the half with the Flame holding a slim three point edge 52-49. The Dazzle got 11 points in the 3rd quarter from Grundy and took a 79-78 lead into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was Will Bynum show, as he scored 12 points on an array of lay-ups and two thunderous dunks that brought the home crowd to their feet.

“The energy we came out with in the second half, I thought was about as good as we have had all year” said Dazzle Coach Kent Davison.

Both of the Washington Wizards' allocated players, Peter Ramos and Andray Blatche, joined Grundy and Bynum in double figures for the Dazzle. Ramos contributed 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds and Blatche scored 14 points off the bench.

The first-place Flame came into the game on a five-game winning streak with three of those wins coming at the Roanoke Civic Center over the Dazzle.

“We beat that team three or four games straight,” said Flame Coach Jeff Malone. “I kept warning the guys about that. They (the Dazzle) did a great job, they executed and they pushed us around.”

The Flame had five players score in double figures, led by Andre Barrett with 22 points. Bracey Wright kept up his penchant for scoring with 19 and Theron Smith had 17 to go along with eight boards. Kendall Dartez scored 15 and Hiram Fuller chipped in 11 points off the bench.

With the win, the Dazzle improve to 5-8 on the season. The Dazzle will welcome the Albuquerque Thunderbirds to the Roanoke Civic Center for a pair of games this Friday and Saturday. Tip-off for these games is 7:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. respectively.

The Flame now drop to 8-3 on the season, but still hold onto their first-place standing in the D-League. The Flame will next head to Fayetteville, N.C. to play a pair of games against the Fayetteville Patriots at the Crown Coliseum this Friday and Saturday.