Saturday, December 18, 1999
Stuff 100, St. Louis 97
Fowlkes' 3 in OT keeps Stuff unbeaten
BY PETE HOLTERMANN
Enquirer contributor
It took overtime, but the Cincinnati Stuff remain the only undefeated team in the IBL with a 100-97 win Friday night.
Tremaine Fowlkes won it for the Stuff on a long 3-pointer from in front of the St.Louis bench with 2.2 seconds left.
“The play was designed for Wayne (Turner) to penetrate or kick it out to the wing,” Fowlkes said. “I happened to be open.”
A desperation three from Derek Grimm fell short at the horn, and the Stuff escaped with the win.
Cincinnati (7-0) was in control in the fourth quarter, taking a 91-80 lead with 6:01 left in the game. But the Stuff went scoreless for the remainder of regulation, forcing overtime with the score knotted 91-91.
St.Louis had an opportunity to win. With 10.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Swarm's Chris Hollender, a 94 percent free throw shooter, went to the line to shoot two with St.Louis trailing 91-90. He missed the first but made the second to tie it.
“We should have closed it out in the fourth quarter,” Fowlkes said.
Cincinnati broke through early in the game, taking a 32-25 lead after the first quar ter. The Stuff got the lead by closing the period with an 18-4 run that was sparked by nine points from Lenny Brown off the bench.
But St.Louis responded immediately in the second quarter, embarking on a 17-6 run to take a 42-38 lead eight minutes into the second quarter. The Swarm then broke a 44-44 tie with a 10-6 run to lead 54-50 at halftime.
“We took their best shot,” Stuff coach Joby Wright said. “I don't know how much better they could have played in the first half.”
The bench stepped up for Cincinnati, combining for 52 points. Brown led the effort with 19 points, and Alex Sanders added 15 points and seven rebounds.
“We didn't get off to a good start,” Wright said. “It was the second unit that got us going.”
Fowlkes led Cincinnati with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
St. Louis ....... 25 29 22 15 6—97
Cincinnati ....... 32 18 27 14 9—100
ST. LOUIS — Shaw 3-6 2-2 8, D. Smith 11-19 4-5 30, Grimm 4-11 0-0 11, Sims 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 6-17 2-3 14, Claggett 1-7 0-1 2, A. Smith 7-10 2-2 16, Houston 1-1 4-4 6, Harris 0-0 1-2 2, Hollender 2-4 5-6 9. Totals: 35-77 20-25 97.
CINCINNATI — Fowlkes 9-14 6-8 28, Taylor 1-5 2-4 4, James 1-1 0-0 2, Turner 3-12 2-2 8, Blakney 2-10 2-2 6, Kingsbury 1-1 4-4 6, Brown 7-12 3-4 19, Edwards 1-5 0-0 3, Sanders 7-13 0-0 15, Samake 4-5 1-1 9, Hickey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 36-78 20-25 100.
3-point field goals: St. Louis 7-19 (D. Smith 4-7, Grimm 3-9, Johnson 0-6, Claggett 0-5, A. Smith 0-1, Hollender 0-1); Cincinnati 8-21 (Fowlkes 4-6, Blakney 0-1, Brown 2-5, Edwards 1-4, Sanders 1-5). Rebounds: St. Louis 42 (D. Smith 11); Cincinnati 46 (Fowlkes 11). Assists: St. Louis 19 (D. Smith 5); Cincinnati 17 (Blakney 5). A-2,779.
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