The Birmingham Patriots had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They took down Cleveland 61-44. That's another feather in the cap for Birmingham, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Alex Dupre continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 28 points along with seven assists and five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Deshawn Banks, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Cleveland's loss came despite strong showings from Souljah Niles and Kamari King. Niles scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three steals, while King scored 12 points. Roman Finney was another key contributor, scoring four points.
Even though they lost, Cleveland smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Birmingham only pulled down eight offensive rebounds.
Birmingham pushed their record up to 12-10 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for Cleveland, their loss dropped their record down to 11-7.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Birmingham will take on the Highlanders at 4:49 p.m. on Monday. As for Cleveland, they will head out on the road to square off against the Chancellors at 4:49 p.m. on Monday. Chatsworth knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine games -- so hopefully the Cavaliers likes a good challenge.
