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Dakota Rocks Arkansas

March 9, 2007 - NBA G League (G League)
Arkansas RimRockers News Release


LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 9 - Anthony Roberson scored 20 of his team high 28 points in the first half of Friday night's NBA D-League game, but the Arkansas RimRockers were defeated by the Dakota Wizards, 134-119, at Alltel Arena.

In their first ever meeting, Dakota (21-14) came away with the victory behind 7 of their 9 players scoring in double figures, to pull ahead of the Fort Worth Flyers for first place in the Eastern Division. The RimRockers dropped to 11-27 and continued to struggle on defense allowing Dakota to shoot over 57% from the field. The RimRockers and Wizards will play 5 more times before the season comes to an end.

"When a good team shoots the way they shot it, you're going to have a blowout situation. They're probably the best of the good teams." said RimRockers Head Coach Andy Stoglin. "They play really well together, and they shot well. That's a tough combination to beat."

Dakota pulled out to an early lead behind guard Dontell Jefferson as he scored 9 points at the end of the first quarter as the Wizards ended the period on an 11-0 run, to a score of 39-26. The second period started similarly as the first ended as they continued their run with a 5-0 run and extended the lead to as many as 23 with 5:58 to play in the first half.

Arkansas would respond as they too used a late push to claw their way back into the game. The RimRockers ended the half with a 12-1 run capped off by a Roberson 30-foot three point shot as time expired. The RimRockers trailed 70-61 at the break. Roberson ended the night 8-12 from behind the arc, tying a D-League season high for 3-pointers made.

"Our defense got us back in it." Stoglin said. "We got some easy baskets out of our defense. Then in the third and fourth quarter we had a hard time finding scorers."

Also chipping in for the RimRockers was NBA assignee Alexander Johnson. The Memphis Grizzlies transplant put up 22 and grabbed 8 rebounds in his first game in Arkansas. Clay Tucker scored 20, after his record setting night last weekend where he put up 51 vs. Austin.

The second half was dominated by Dakota as they started to pull away midway through the third quarter behind Renaldo Major's 10 points and 5 rebounds in the period. After the 4:14 mark in the third the RimRockers never came within single digits, trailing 101-84 at the end of three. The Wizards poured it on and continued their hot shooting in the final period extending their lead to as many as 25, before the final horn blew.

The former Arkansas Razorback, Jefferson, felt back at home and torched the RimRockers for 28 points on 10-12 shooting and also did damage with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Darius Rice chipped in with 22 and 8 boards off the bench. The Wizards bench outscored the RimRockers 75-39.

Arkansas will head to Tulsa for a Saturday night match-up with the 66ers. Dakota will fly home and wait for Arkansas to travel to Bismarck, ND for back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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