The Firebirds Are 2-0!!!

A recap of our first two games, plus a preview of this week:

Author

Tex Greene
March 10, 2025

Happy Monday! The Firebirds had an incredibly successful weekend, starting their season off 2-0! Today, I’m going to recap each of our games and tell you about what to get excited for this upcoming week:

Table of Contents

Firebirds Defeat Bucs in Home Opener, 124-102

To put it simply, the Firebirds season opener was everything you could hope for. The team looked polished, as they jumped out to an early lead over the Savannah Buccaneers. The Firebirds were larger, more skilled, and more cohesive on the court, and it showed. While the Bucs nailed away at the Firebirds’ lead in the second quarter and even took a one-point lead, they never led again. Halftime saw the Firebirds lead 70-54, and the team continued to hammer away in the 2nd half. The 3rd quarter saw the Firebirds making everything, and after 12 more minutes, the Firebirds led by 27. From there, they comfortably coasted in the 4th quarter to a 22-point win.

Julian Gamble was phenomenal, as the big man finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds. He did it all, out-rebounding the Savannah big man and even facilitating the offense; Gamble brought up the ball quite often, which freed up the Firebirds guards to operate and let Gamble facilitate.

Another player who shined on opening night was DJ Thomas. The undersized point guard from Shaw University wowed fans with his game, shifting defenders out of position on offense and being an absolute menace on defense. Thomas hit some ridiculous layups and finished the game with 17 points and 4 steals. Combine him with the likes of Daequon Antoine, Ahmad Abdullah, and Dreko Palmer (who didn’t suit up this weekend), and the Firebirds have the best guard rotation in the entire TBL.

A huge thank you to everyone who showed up and showed out Friday night for the season opener!

Firebirds Escape Jacksonville After Double Overtime

While the opening night was great fun, that didn’t mean the Firebirds weekend was done. At 6 AM on Sunday, the Firebirds were up and about, driving down to Jacksonville, Florida for an afternoon game. Matching up against the 95ers, the Firebirds were willing and ready to fight, even if the odds were stacked against them. Only eight players made the trip down to Jacksonville, and the players barely had time to stretch their legs before they were on the court playing. Still, they shined.

The lead in the game moved back and forth, with both teams gaining momentum at key times. However, at the end of regulation, the game was tied. The first overtime saw the Firebirds jump out to an early lead, only for the 95ers to match them. While the 95ers had momentum towards the end of the overtime period, they couldn’t pull ahead, and thus, the game went to a second overtime.

There, the Firebirds went to work. Daequon Antoine hit some big shots from beyond the three-point arc, and Gamble—who struggled in the season opener with his free throw shooting—made five clutch free throws in a row. The 95ers’ big men didn’t have a response for Gamble, and once again, he played a crucial role in the team’s victory. Ultimately, the Firebirds would win by nine points, 129-120.

While everyone contributed to the win, three players stood out statistically. Antoine had 30 points and shot a ridiculous 6-for-12 from the three-point line. Ahmad Abdullah had 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 rebounds while playing a crazy 49 minutes. However, Gamble’s stat line was by far the most impressive. He played virtually the entire game (a whopping 56 minutes) and finished with 37 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. An absolutely monster performance.

Just like that, the Firebirds sit at 2-0.

Upcoming Games This Week

This upcoming weekend, we’ve got two great matchups for you…and both are home games! This Friday, we play the Tampa Bay Titans at 7 PM. It’s our youth sports night, and we’re inviting athletes from all across the triangle to watch us, regardless of what sport they play! If you’re a youth athlete, then admission is free; parents and family members of those athletes get 50% off.

The next day (Saturday) at 4 PM we once again play the Titans. The Saturday game is our Health Awareness Game, where we take the time to celebrate our amazing partners. We use this game to bring awareness to important health issues that affect our community, such as anti-vaping, autism awareness, mental health, heart health, cancer research, and M.S. awareness!

Now if you read that carefully, you may be thinking: why should I care if the Firebirds play the same team twice? Great question! The Tampa Bay Titans are also 2-0, which means they’re tied with us for first place in the South Atlantic Division. If we can defeat them on Friday and Saturday, that’ll put our record at 4-0 and their record at 2-2, solidifying us as the best team in the South Atlantic Conference. The stronger our record is early on, the easier it is to maintain…and it’s easier to win games when our stands are packed with fans!

That’s all for today! Make sure to stay tuned for Wednesday’s edition, where I’ll discuss what the Firebirds are up to in the community and further preview Wednesday and Friday’s matchups.

Until then,

-Tex