ENID, OK – The Potawatomi Fire showed why they are the two-time defending TBL champions on Thursday night as they battled back from a 19-point 3rd quarter deficit to edge the Enid Outlaws 116-115. The win moved the Fire to 18-1 on the season and clinched the top overall seed, and home court advantage, in The Basketball League playoffs.
“I kept thinking back to Game 2 of our Regional Championship series against Seattle two years ago,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “I knew that our guys wouldn’t give and they’d either come back and win or we’d run out of time. Thankfully, we came back and won.”
Not only were the Fire down by 19 with just a minute to go in the third, but they trailed by 11 with less than seven minutes to go in regulation. At that point, trailing 105-94, the Fire mounted a 22-10 run to end the game and leave the Stride Bank Center with a win.
“We needed a game like this,” said Dannhoff. “As we get into the playoffs, the competition is only going to tougher, and we needed to be tested. I’m happy the guys responded the way they did. Now we just need to learn from tonight and adjust.”
Ricardo Artis II led the Fire with 35 points, including 22 in the second half. Artis II also grabbed 8 rebounds on the night. While Artis II led the Fire in scoring, and kept them in the game for much of the second half, reigning TBL MVP Chuck Guy closed the game out. Guy finished with 27 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals. Of his 27 points, 13 came in the fourth quarter and Guy scored or assisted on the Fire’s final 13 points of the game.
“Chuck and Ricky were great tonight,” said Dannhoff. “They are such great players on the floor but what you don’t see is their leadership in practice and in the huddle. They knew what we needed to do, and they went out and did it like the leaders they are.”
Joining Artis II and Guy in double-figures were Ke’Tarrious “K.T.” Bouchum, who finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds, and Jachai Simmons who tallied 10 points and 3 rebounds.
A full box score is available here.
The Fire victory improved their record to 18-1 on the season and finished off the regular season sweep over Enid. The Fire have now won 14 straight games over Enid and 49 consecutive games over Central Conference teams.
Prior to the game, it was announced that Enid and Little Rock will not play a play-in game next week and that Enid will move on to the first round of the playoffs where they will matchup with the Fire. That series will begin next Thursday in Enid before moving to Shawnee for games 2 and 3, if necessary.
Up next, the Fire will close out the regular season on Saturday against Creating Young Minds. That game will tipoff at 2 PM inside FireLake Arena in Shawnee. You can watch a live stream of the game at tbltv.tv or listen live on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM).
It is also Family Day at FireLake with all general admission tickets on sale for just $5 and all kids 12 and under will get in free. To purchase tickets visit potawatomifire.com/tickets or call the FireLake Arena box office.
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.