randy.king@roanoke.com 981-3126
   
   They're jinxed. They're under a hex. They're caught in the throes of some kind of insidious spell.
   A half-second away from winning and earning the NBDL's fourth and final playoff spot, the Dazzle's incredibly bad karma continued Friday night when Kenny Satterfield hit a spinning 7-foot bank shot just before the final horn to give the Fayetteville Patriots an 111-110 victory at the Roanoke Civic Center.
   "It's unbelievable," Roanoke coach Kent Davison. "That shot probably hits the rim and rolls out if it had been us shooting it."
   Instead of breaking an eight-game losing streak and qualifying for the playoffs, the Dazzle (20-25) now is down to one final chance of extending its season. Fayetteville (21-24), which took over fourth place, must lose tonight at first-place Asheville and Roanoke must beat second-place Charleston tonight at the civic center in order for the Dazzle to steal a playoff berth.
   The Dazzle has valid reason to feel like the whole world has turned on it. First, Roanoke lost forward Terrence Shannon, its third-leading scorer, to a possible fractured left ankle with 6:05 left in the second quarter. As if that weren't bad enough, the Dazzle lost forward Josh Asselin, its second-leading scorer, with 8:41 left in the third quarter when he was ejected for his second technical foul of the night.
   Despite missing two of its main cogs, the short-handed Dazzle battled its way to a 17-point lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
   Grits and guts can only take a team so far, though. Finally figuring out what was at stake, the more talented and able-bodied Patriots started chipping into the lead in the fourth quarter. As Roanoke started killing itself with turnovers and with fouls on the defensive end, Fayetteville went on a 22-8 run to close to 95-92 midway in the fourth quarter.
   With Roanoke leading 106-101, Mike King turned the ball over on a breakaway that could have made it a three-possession game with 2:45 left. Fayetteville, which hadn't led since late in the first quarter, went ahead 109-108 on Cedric Henderson's offensive stickback with 13 seconds left.
   King's tip-in with 5.8 seconds left put Roanoke back ahead. The home team's joy was short-lived, however, after Satterfield took the inbounds pass, backed Dazzle guard Marque Perry down on the left block, spun and kissed a the ball off the glass and through the basket as time expired.
   "[He] made a good shot," said Perry of Satterfield, whom he faced in college ball in Conference USA. "We contested the shot, he just made it before the buzzer went off.
   "We lost two good players and this one hurts. Definitely we were supposed to have this game. It got out of control in the fourth quarter because we had a good lead, so most of the blame is on us."
   Fayetteville, which was 41-for-48 at the free-throw line, got 24 points from Junie Sanders and Satterfield. Perry and George Williams led Roanoke with 20 points each.
   Davison still has some hope left. The Dazzle will have to beat Charleston tonight without Shannon and hope for help from Asheville.
   "I would like to see us finish up with a win whether me make it or not," he said. "These kids deserve it. With all the things that have transpired to have it just kind of collapse on us in the last month, I would like to see them get something done."
   
   FAYETTEVILLE (111)
   Lucas 1-4 4-4 6, Henderson 7-15 2-2 16, E. Brown 5-13 7-9 17, Satterfield 6-11 11-11 24, Sanders 9-12 6-7 24, Capel 4-8 9-9 18, B. Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Mazur 1-1 0-2 2, K. Williams 0-1 2-4 2. Totals 34-68 41-48 111.
   ROANOKE (110)
   G. Williams 9-16 2-2 20, Asselin 3-6 7-8 13, G. Owens 4-7 0-0 8, Shannon 1-8 4-4 6, Perry 7-12 6-7 20, Johns 3-4 3-6 9, K. Owens 2-6 0-0 4, King 4-9 0-0 8, Hamilton 4-8 2-3 11, Staples 3-7 4-4 11. Totals 40-83 28-34 110.
   Fayetteville29 27 20 33 - 111
   Roanoke31 32 26 21 - 110
   Three-point goals-Fayetteville 2-9 (Satterfield 1-2, Capel 1-3, Lucas 0-1, Henderson 0-1, Sanders 0-1, B. Brown 0-1), Roanoke 2-7 (Hamilton 1-3, Staples 1-3, Shannon 0-1). Rebounds--Fayetteville 36 (E. Brown 11), Roanoke 38 (G. Owens 8). Assists--Fayetteville 13 (Satterfield 8), Roanoke 11 (Perry 4, G. Williams 4). Total fouls-Fayetteville 22, Roanoke 32. Fouled out-None. Technical fouls-Asselin (2), ejected; Satterfield, Lucas, Davison, Fay 3-second defense. A-NA.