ST. LOUIS, MO – In a historic regular season matchup, the Potawatomi Fire saw their 36-game winning streak snapped by the St. Louis Griffins. The Fire, who last lost in Game One of the 2023 TBL Finals on June 23^rd, 2023, fell to the Griffins 121-118 on Friday night.

“We just did not start well,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “We’ve gotten off to fast starts this season but just didn’t do that tonight. We also missed a lot of free throws in the first half. But I am proud of how we fought, and we had a chance to tie it at the end.”

In the first quarter, the Fire were just 2 of 16 (12.5%) from the field while St. Louis hit over 44% of their shots, building a lead as high as 20. The Fire responded in the second quarter cutting the lead to 10 at halftime. In the second half, the Fire got off to a strong start and then used a 16-0 run in the third quarter to take the lead. But St. Louis made tough shots down the stretch and got critical stops when they needed to hand the Fire their first loss of the season.

Chuck Guy led the Fire with 42 points on 11-21 shooting. Guy also grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and stole two passes. Jachai Simmons and Ricardo Artis II each finished with 17 points. Simmons also had 7 rebounds while Artis II had 5 boards and 4 assists. Deshawn Munson, a St. Louis native, finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Paul Harrison finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds.

A full box score is available here.

The Fire (6-1) can’t dwell on this loss too long as they turn around and play their in-state rivals, the Enid Rivals, on Thursday, April 10^th.

“It’s unfortunate but losses happen in basketball. It’s about how you respond after that,” said Dannhoff. “A couple of years ago when we lost some games, we always responded and didn’t let the losses stack on top of each other. We need to do that now.”

The Fire and Outlaws will tipoff at 7 PM inside FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Thursday’s game is the annual Pink Out Game sponsored by SSM Health. All ladies who wear pink to the game will get in for free.

You can watch a live stream of the game at tbltv.tv or listen live on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM).

To stay up to date with all the latest news and notes regarding the Potawatomi Fire, follow the team on social media. You can follow the Fire on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

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ABOUT THE POTAWATOMI FIRE

The Potawatomi Fire are the first professional basketball team owned by a Native American tribe (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) in Oklahoma. The Fire compete in the Central Conference of The Basketball League (TBL), a men’s professional basketball league, with roughly 40 teams across the U.S. and Canada. The Fire play their home games at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Through their first three years, the Fire have established themselves as the premier franchise in TBL. Along with winning the TBL championship in 2023 and 2024, the Fire organization was named the 2022 winner of the Jim Koch Award as TBL’s Best Ran Business. The dance team of the Fire, the Fire Girls, were named TBL’s 2022 Best Dance Team and Central Conference Best Dance Team in 2023 and 2024.