G League Grand Rapids Drive

Gary Talton's 14 Assists, Devin Ebanks' 31 Points Help Grand Rapids Edge Erie

Published on February 10, 2016 under NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Gary Talton was in a giving mood on Wednesday night.

The Grand Rapids Drive guard had a double-double and set the team's season-high with 14 assists in a 111-106 win over the Erie BayHawks in front of 2,258 fans at the DeltaPlex Arena.

Tyler Harvey made two free-throws to help Erie get within 109-106 with 24 seconds left in the game.

Grand Rapids, the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, improves to 15-14. Erie, whose parent team is the Orlando Magic, falls to 11-20.

Devin Ebanks led all scorers with 31 points. The 6-foot-9 forward out of West Virginia is 10th in the D-League in scoring at 20.8 points per game. He was 8-of-18 from the field and 11-of-12 at the free-throw line. Henry Sims had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Dahntay Jones tied his season high with 20 points. Kelsey Barlow had 13 points and Ismael Romero set a season-high with 10 points.

Alex Davis led Erie with 23 points and 12 rebounds. He was followed by Keith Appling (22), Tyler Harvey (20), Melvin Ejim (12) and Eric Atkins (10). Nnanna Egwu had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Talton, a 6-foot-1 guard out of the University of Illinois-Chicago, had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. He averages four assists per game.

Talton stole a pass and connected with a sprinting Ismael Romero, who jammed it home to give Grand Rapids a 76-70 lead with 2 minutes to go in the third quarter. It was Talton's 11th assist.

The teams were tied at 52-52 at halftime. Davis had 14 for Erie and Sims led Grand Rapids with 16 points.

Appling and Davis had dunks on back-to-back possessions midway through the second quarter to give Erie a 38-34 lead.

Talton's 14 assists were nowhere near a career high. He had 21 assists in a game for Rio Grande on Jan. 18, 2014, which was one short of the D-League record at the time.

The Drive record for assists in a game is 16 by Nate Wolters on March 19, 2015 against Maine. The previous season high was 12: Twice by Lorenzo Brown and once by Brandon Jennings, who was on assignment from the Pistons.

Appling returned to Erie on Wednesday after his second 10-day contract with the Orlando Magic expired. The former Michigan State guard played in five games with Orlando, averaging 1.2 points per game.

Both teams get a lengthy break for the D-League All-Star weekend in Toronto. Erie's next game is Wednesday, Feb. 17 when it hosts the Maine Red Claws for a 7 p.m. EST start. Grand Rapids next plays on Feb. 16 when it travels to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for a 7 p.m. game.

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics

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NBA G League Stories from February 10, 2016


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