Blue Rally Falls Short against Vipers

January 16, 2019 - NBA G League (G League)
Oklahoma City Blue News Release

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Blue (20-8) fell to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (16-10), 111-105, on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City grabbed the lead early in the game and maintained it for the majority of the first half, entering halftime with a 63-53 advantage. Rio Grande Valley then opened the third quarter on a 26-9 run sparked by back-to-back buckets from Dakarai Tucker, who went 6-for-7 from beyond the arc to score 20 of his game-leading 33 points in the frame.

The Vipers outscored the Blue 38-16 in the third to enter the final quarter with a 12-point lead. Oklahoma City was able to rally to knot the score at 105-all with a minute and a half left in the game, but the Vipers ended the game on a 6-0 run to earn the win.

"I was obviously disappointed in the outcome, but it's the end of a tough stretch for us," Head Coach Mark Daigneault said. "Looking forward to getting some rest and recovery and getting the team healthy. Hoping we can learn from our last couple games. I thought overall we've played well in this stretch, but we just didn't execute quite well enough to win tonight."

Six Oklahoma City players scored in double figures with Bryce Alford leading the way as he finished with 28 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals while draining five three-pointers.

K.J. McDaniels turned in a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds along with six steals while Abdul Gaddy tallied 13 points and a game-high-tying eight assists. From the bench, Justin Leon hit three shots from beyond the arc to register 15 points and three rebounds.

The Blue will return to action on Friday, Jan. 18 when the team takes on the Iowa Wolves at 7 p.m. inside Cox Convention Center.

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