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Biyombo sends Bobcats over Hornets

Mar 13, 2012 - 3:20 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Bismack Biyombo blocked Trevor Ariza's dunk in the final seconds Monday night and the Charlotte Bobcats held on for their sixth win of the season, 73-71 over the New Orleans Hornets in a game between the worst teams in both conferences.

Ariza got free on the right side after an inbounds pass with 5.2 seconds left and drove hard to the basket, but Biyombo was there to reject his dunk.

"That was awesome," Charlotte coach Paul Silas declared.

The Bobcats, with the worst record in the NBA at 6-34, snapped a three-game losing streak. Gerald Henderson scored 15 points and Kemba Walker had 14 off the bench, while Biyombo added 12 points and four blocks.

Jarrett Jack scored 15 points to lead the Hornets and Chris Kaman had 12 with 16 rebounds. New Orleans has lost five of six for a 10-32 record -- worst in the Western Conference.

"This was a bad loss for us," said Ariza. "Even for us this is a bad loss. This is a game we should have won."

The Hornets trailed by 13 with under eight minutes remaining but used an 11-0 run led by Al-Farouq Aminu off the bench to pull within 71-69. Boris Diaw's hook shot gave the Bobcats a four-point cushion, but Jack came back with a jumper about a minute later to cut it back to two.

Diaw then missed a three-point try on the right side, giving the Hornets the ball with 10.8 seconds left.

After a foul, they inbounded the ball with 5.2 ticks left and Ariza got past Henderson on the high right side with no one in between himself and the basket until Biyombo rotated down to meet him perfectly.

"It was a good play called by coach (Monty Williams) and I didn't expect to be able to get to the basket," said Ariza. "[He] just made a good play on the ball."

Biyombo said he thought the game was going to overtime.

"[Then] I thought I've got to go for the block. Coach said don't switch, because once you switch, you know they expect that and they have a big man under the bucket who can get the ball," he said. "So we had to be smart. I had to make a decision and once I saw him jumping in the air, I thought I can block that shot. I thought just jump smart and don't foul. Thank God, we got the victory."

The Bobcats snapped a two-game losing streak to the Hornets -- both coming last season.

"All the guys worked hard," said Silas. "We're just very, very happy to get the win."

Game Notes

The Hornets had a 20-14 lead after the first quarter and a 37-35 edge at halftime. They were behind, 61-55, heading into the fourth after Charlotte shot 54.5 percent in the third...New Orleans started a three-game homestand that finishes with visits by the Lakers and Wizards...Charlotte is 1-1 on a four-game road trip that continues Wednesday at Houston.