From the opening tip, Shreveport had to know it was in for a rough night. The Stride Bank Center Crowd was louder than it has been all season, and what was that? Rival Potawatomie Fire fans loudly cheering on…the Outlaws? “We loved coming up to Enid to support our fellow Oklahoma TBL team,” Fire fan Taylor Williams said, It’s the Oklahoma standard to cheer for each other when we aren’t playing each other. We hope the Outlaws take it all the way to the Finals and bring the Lillie Trophy back to Oklahoma!”
And with the seven Fire fans that made the trip, as well as a very good Outlaw crowd in support, Enid took the must win Game 2, tying of the Best of Three series at one game each.
The Outlaws came out hungry and built a 32-24 lead in the first quarter, and kept building to pull away for the 129-109 win. With only 8 players available, Enid left it all on the court. They played hard all game and it showed in the box score. Ricardo Artis II led the team with 40 points (on just 19 shots) and 14 rebounds. Daylon “Chuck” Guy showed why he was named first team all TBL, with 31 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and shot 46% from 3, while playing all 48 minutes of the game.
As for the Mavericks, they were clearly frustrated by the excellent defense by Enid, as well as the rowdy crowd. Things got chippy on at least two occasions after hard fouls, the second of which earned Maverick Tavin Cummings an ejection. Shreveport coach Steve Tucker went to the bench often, playing 12 players during the game. While they still shot well from 2 (60.7%), they were only 8 for 28 from 3 and were harried into 19 turnovers. No single player stood out for Shreveport, but Tavin Cummings did have 20 points before his ejection. Big man Paul Harrison had 21 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds, but was his +/- was -15, second worst on the team.
The deciding Game 3 is at the Stride Bank Center Saturday night at 6 p.m. Tickets start at $10 and are available at the door or stridebankcenter.com. Game 3 is huge and for the right to move on to the TBL Final Four against the winner of the Western Conference series between the California Sea-Kings and the SoCal Moguls. The Sea-Kings won the first game 133-125 and play Game 2 on their home court Saturday night.
Get your tickets, be there early, wear your best black shirts for the “black out” and cheer loud for your Enid Outlaws!
