SHAWNEE, OK – For the first time this season the Potawatomi Fire needed overtime to decide a game. On Saturday, the Fire were able to pull out the overtime victory inside FireLake Arena as they beat the St. Louis Griffins 127-124 in a hard-fought contest between two of the best teams in The Basketball League.
In a bit of a mirror image to the last game between these two teams on April 4th, the Fire got off to a strong start and led by as many as 20 in the first half before St. Louis battled back and took a lead in fourth quarter. The Fire were able to close the fourth strong and eventually get the win in overtime.
“That was a good team we played tonight,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “I told our guys when we had the big lead that it wasn’t safe and that they’d (St. Louis) come back. I was proud of the way our guys fought down the stretch and were able to withstand their momentum to get the win.”
It was a physical game from the opening tip and the Fire used that physicality to their advantage, getting St. Louis into foul trouble and getting to the foul line a team-record 54 times and knocking down a team-record 40 free throws.
“That was part of our game plan going into this one,” said Dannhoff. “We know they are physical and will slap at the ball on every possession. We wanted to get the ball to the rim, continue to play through the contact, and draw fouls. We did that tonight. We also did a good job of knocking down our foul shots once we got to the line.”
Fire point guard Chuck Guy broke his own team record with 22 free throws made on 26 attempts. Guy finished with a game high 34 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.
Deshawn Munson recorded his 5th double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. The 19 points also puts Deshawn Munson at an even 2,000 points in his TBL career. Munson is the second Fire player to reach that milestone joining Chuck Guy, who reached that mark last season.
“Chuck and Munson were both great tonight,” said Dannhoff. “Both guys were aggressive getting to the basket but were also smart with ball and knew when to give up to their teammates. I thought they both played well on the defensive too, challenging shots and creating turnovers.”
Ricardo Artis II and Jachai Simmons also continued their good play on both ends of the floor. Artis II finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals while Simmons finished with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Rounding out the double-digit scorers were Paul Harrison, who finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Jay Hedgeman, who finished with 11 points 2 rebounds, and 3 steals off the bench.
A full box score is available here.
The improved the Fire’s record to 11-1 on the season and it extended the Fire’s TBL-record home winning streak to 42 games.
Up next, the Fire will look to win their 43rd in a row at home as they host the Little Rock Lightning on Sunday, April 27th at 4 PM. You can watch a live stream of the game at tbltv.tv or listen live on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM).
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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.