Bakersfield too strong in fourth quarter for Wizards
February 10, 2009 - NBA G League (G League)
Dakota Wizards News Release
Bismarck, N.D. February 10, 2009: Despite a season high 41 points from All-Star guard Blake Ahearn, the Wizards could not hold off a Bakersfield fourth quarter attack as Dakota fell to the Jam 108-100 tonight at the Bismarck Civic Center.
Dakota, who trailed by as many as 13 early in the third quarter, used a 17-7 run to close out the quarter up 82-76. But that run seemed to take everything out of the Wizards, who were outscored by the Jam 32-18 in the fourth. Jam swingman Derrick Byars keyed the fourth quarter attack with eight of his 31 points in the final 12 minutes.
"We played really well as a team in that third quarter to take the lead," said Wizards head coach Duane Ticknor. "Blake shot the ball really well tonight. He kept us in the game and we had the crowd behind us, but we were not able to execute late. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds and missed too many free throws to beat a team like Bakersfield."
In addition to Byars, the frontcourt for the Jam were almost too much for the Wizards. Forwards Nick Lewis and Terrance Thomas both had outstanding games for the Jam. Lewis scored 22 points and snatched seven boards, while Thomas finished with only 10 points, he did grab a season and game high 18 rebounds.
All-Star forward Richard Hendrix tallied his third straight double-double with 12 points and 17 boards for Dakota, while Ahearn, who finished the night 5-of-9 from the arc, had the team's second highest rebound total on the night with eight.
Dakota, who dropped to 18-13 on the season, is now off for 10 days as they do not return to action until Friday, February 20th when they take on Fort Wayne at 6:30pm CT. Bakerfield, now 17-13 on the season, heads to Sioux Falls for a 7pm CT match-up with the Skyforce tomorrow night.
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