Recap
SHAWNEE, OK – The Potawatomi Fire continued their winning ways on Saturday beating the Texas 7ers 135-123. With the win, the Fire extended their TBL record win streak to 17. They also extended TBL record home win streak to 33 and swept the regular season series against the Texas 7ers.
After going down by six with roughly 3:30 remaining in the first quarter, the Fire started to turn things around. The Fire closed out the first on a 12-2 run to take an eight-point lead going into the second. From there, the Fire never trailed again ultimately leading by as many as 26 and winning by 12.
The Fire played without K.D. Moore, who injured his groin in Thursday’s win over Little Rock. In Moore’s absence, the Fire got contributions from several players to help fill that void. Six players finished with double digit points, and it was a true team effort by the Fire to get the win.
“Our guys came out and were really locked in and had a lot of energy,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “The 7ers came out and shot the ball extremely well. They made some really tough shots, but we didn’t put our heads down. We continued to grind and finally got things going in the second half.”
Chuck Guy again led the Fire in scoring with 32 points. He also dished out 12 assists and came up with three steals. Over the last three games, Guy is averaging 39.3 points and 9.3 assists as he makes his case for the TBL MVP award.
Outside of Guy, Jachai Simmons had arguably his best game of the season with 17 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals. The 18 rebounds were tied for sixth most by a Fire player in a single game.
“Jachai really sparked us on defense and on the glass,” said Dannhoff. “When he came out for the last time I told him he played his best game because of everything he was doing.”
Ricky Artis II, who made his first start of the season with Moore out, scored 24 points for the Fire. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and had a pair of steals and blocks. Jaylen Mahone had a career high 15 points to go along with three rebounds. Isaiah Wade finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Ruston Hayward finished with 13 points to go with five assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
A full box score is available here.
One other note from Saturday’s game is the arrival of Paul Harrison. Harrison was a member of the Fire’s championship team last year and has signed for the rest of this year. Harrison, who is the only two-time champion in TBL history, finished his Basketball Super League season on Friday and flew from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada to Oklahoma City on Saturday to be eligible for this game and the rest of the season.
“Honestly, I had no intention of playing Paul,” said Dannhoff. “We just wanted to get him here. I asked him if he wanted to go in and he did, so I put him in. I can tell he’s happy to be here and we are happy to have him here.”
With the win, the Fire improved to 17-0 on the year. Up next, the Fire will travel to Kansas to take on the Wichita Skykings next Friday night, May 17.. That game will tipoff at 7 PM inside Fugate Gymnasium on the campus of Newman University. 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).
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Story by Chris Cox / Photos by Kent Bush