SHAWNEE, OK – The Potawatomi Fire finished off arguably their toughest stretch of the regular season with an impressive 113-101 come from behind victory over the Little Rock Lightning.
“We knew this stretch was going to be tough,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “Playing four games in seven nights is not easy and to play two sets of back-to-backs makes it tougher. We were exhausted from last night’s game (127-124 overtime win over St. Louis) and Little Rock came out here played really well. I give them a lot of credit for really challenging us and making things difficult. With that said, I was happy to see our guys fight through the slow start and gut out this win.”
The Fire got off to slow start, trailing by five after the first quarter and, at times, looked fatigued. However, in the second quarter the Fire found their rhythm and charged back. The Fire outscored Little Rock 31-13 in second quarter to take a 13-point lead going into halftime. In the second half, Little Rock tried to come back cutting the Fire lead to single digits on several occasions but the Fire were ultimately able to hold on for the 12-point victory.
Ricardo Artis II led the Fire with 27 points tonight on 10-13 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds.
“Ricky guards the other team’s best player every night,” said Dannhoff. “For him to not only do that on defense but then to put up the offensive numbers he does is really impressive. I also have to say that Chuck Guy’s leadership, along with his talent, leads us every night. Without those two guys, and the rest of the players following their lead, we wouldn’t have gone 4-0 this week.”
Guy scored 16 for the Fire while grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, and stealing 6 passes. Deshawn Munson recorded his first triple-double of the season finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists. Jachai Simmons was the final starter to finish with double-figure points. He finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Along with the starter, the Fire got good production off the bench. Kam Williams continued his hot play with 16 points, including 3 three-pointers, and 2 rebounds. Jay Hedgeman finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals. Finally, off the bench, Isaiah Wade finished 12 points and 4 rebounds.
A full box score is available here.
With the win, the Fire improved to 12-1 on the year. The win was the 43rd consecutive win inside FireLake Arena and it also improved to the Fire’s record to 14-0 overall against Little Rock.
Up next, the Fire will look to win their 44th in a row at home as they host the San Antonio on Friday, May 2nd at 7 PM. 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.
—–
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.