G League Oklahoma City Blue

Blue Falls in Game 1 to Santa Cruz

Published on April 9, 2015 under NBA G League (G League)
Oklahoma City Blue News Release


OKLAHOMA CITY, April 9, 2015 - The Oklahoma City Blue fell to the Santa Cruz Warriors, 105-98, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Wednesday at the Cox Convention Center.

The Blue was led by Semaj Christon with 30 points and 11 assists. Frank Gaines added 16 points while Marquis Teague produced 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Xavier Alexander totaled 11 points and Talib Zanna finished with nine points and nine boards.

The Warriors outscored Oklahoma City 27-17 in the first quarter before the Blue opened the second quarter with an 18-8 run to take a 36-35 lead. Santa Cruz responded with 13 straight points which was then countered by an 8-0 Blue run at the close of the half. The Warriors owned a 54-46 lead at the halftime break.

Santa Cruz began the third quarter with an 11-0 run and would build its lead to as high as 21 points before entering the fourth with a 78-65 cushion. The Blue refused to go away, continuing to slowly chip at the Warriors' lead, cutting it to a nine point deficit with 1:44 remaining. OKC got to within five points off of a deep three from Gaines with 20.3 seconds on the clock but the Warriors held them off at the foul line to claim Game 1.

"The takeaway from tonight is how we start games and start halves," said Blue Head Coach Mark Daigneault. "I was disappointed in how we started at the beginning at the game and the second half. I think Santa Cruz came out of the locker room in both circumstances throwing the first punch. Coming into this thing, our goal was to be the more aggressive team - there were times tonight that we were, but not for long enough stretches against a really good team."

Oklahoma City shot 11-of-22 (50.0 percent) from three-point range.

Santa Cruz was led by Eliot Williams with 27 points.

The series now heads west where Santa Cruz will host Game 2 on Friday at 9:30 pm CT on ESPN News. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be played in Santa Cruz on Tuesday at a time to be determined. For more information, visit OklahomaCityBlue.com.

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