G League Grand Rapids Drive

McGruder, Benson Score 21 Each As Sioux Falls Beats Grand Rapids

Published on January 22, 2016 under NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Rodney McGruder and Keith Benson each scored 21 points as the Sioux Falls Skyforce won their third in a row and 14 out of their last 15 games.

Sioux Falls beat the Grand Rapids Drive 104-98 at the DeltaPlex Arena in front of 3,357 fans.

Sioux Falls, the affiliate of the Miami Heat, improve to 20-4. It leads the Central Division by seven games. Grand Rapids, whose parent team is the Detroit Pistons, falls to 11-11.

Tre Kelly had 15 points and six assists for the Skyforce. He was followed by Bubu Palo (12), Briante Weber (10) and Byron Mullens, who had a double-double, with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Benson, a 6-11 forward out of Oakland University, was 9-of-13 from the field and had eight rebounds. McGruder, a 6- foot-5 guard out of Kansas State, was 7-of-9 from the field and drained five 3-pointers.

Devin Ebanks scored 21 points to lead Grand Rapids. He was followed by Henry Sims, who had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie, who is on assignment from the Pistons, had 16 points and six assists. Kelsey Barlow added 13 points.

Nigel Spikes had two thunderous dunks early in the fourth quarter to give Sioux Falls a 82-79 lead.

Barlow drained a 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the third to cap a 15-4 run and give Grand Rapids a 65-59 lead. But McGruder's 3-pointer helped the SkyForce retake the lead at 71-69.

Mullens, the tallest player on the court at 7-feet, drained a 3-pointer with 3 minutes to go in the first half to give Sioux Falls a 45-41 lead. It was the 24th three of the season for the Ohio State product.

Mullens, who has played parts of five seasons in the NBA, had eight points and seven rebounds as the Sky Force led 53- 50 at halftime.

Sioux Falls' next game is scheduled for Saturday at the Canton Charge at 7 p.m. EST.

Grand Rapids was scheduled to play Sunday and host the Raptors 905. But the game has been postponed due to the anticipated travel problems for the Raptors, who are supposed to fly out of New York. But the snow storm on the East Coast has altered their travel plans.

The game will now be played on Monday at 7 p.m. in Grand Rapids.

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