BERNALILLO, NM – The Potawatomi Fire once again showed their championship bona fides as they beat the Santa Ana Thunder for the second straight day 109-96. With the win, the Fire stayed undefeated improving to 8-0 on the year.
“Anytime you can go get two road wins against a really, really good team like Santa Ana, you have to be happy,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “They are very talented and play so hard. Hats off to coach Cliff Levingston and his Santa Ana team.”
The Fire led the majority of the game and unlike Saturday’s game, the Fire were able to hold on to the lead that they built. Santa Ana largest lead was just one point (5-4) and it was early in the first quarter. The Fire built a 16-point lead in the second quarter and while Santa Ana did chip away at the lead, the Fire were always able to hold them at arm’s length, eventually winning by 13. The 13-point win was the Fire’s sixth double-digit win this season.
“We talked at halftime about how we allowed them to come back and do what we do on both ends,” said Dannhoff. “But once we got our second wind and we started going, things started falling for us. I’m real proud of our guys. To go on this road trip, through all this adversity we faced, to go 2-0 is really nice.”
K.D. Moore led the Fire with 36 points, which is a new season high. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. Arguably his most impressive stat was his 10-10 shooting from the free throw line. Deshawn Munson had another strong performance with 23 points and four rebounds. Off the bench, Ricardo Artis II and Ruston Hayward each scored 14. Artis II added seven rebounds while Hayward also had five rebounds and three assists. Chuck Guy was the final Fire player in double figures finishing with 10 points, three rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. After scoring a season high 27 points on Saturday, Jachai Simmons was held to just five points on Sunday but he did grab a team high nine rebounds.
A full box score is available here.
The undefeated Fire have a quick turnaround as they get back to action on Thursday, April 11th when they host the Wichita SkyKings. That game will take place at FireLake Arena in Shawnee. It will tip off at 7 PM. To purchase tickets, visit www.potawatomifire.com/tickets. You can watch a live stream of the game on TBL TV or listen to the game on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM/KGFF.com).
Be sure to follow the Fire on social media (Instagram, Facebook, X) to stay up to date with all the latest information on the Fire.
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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, now with 38 teams across the U.S. and Canada. Along with winning the TBL championship in 2023, 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.
The TBL season begins in February and runs through June, concluding with a championship playoff tournament. The players that make up the rosters of the TBL teams are former NCAA (Division I, II or III) or NAIA athletes. Many have played in the NBA’s developmental G-League and/or professionally overseas.
Story by Chris Cox / Photos by Garret Fisbeck