G League Grand Rapids Drive

Drive's Comeback Knocks off Red Claws

March 19, 2015 - NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


Grand Rapids, Mich. - March 19, 2015 - Two days after losing to the same team in heartbreaking fashion, the Grand Rapids Drive (19-23) completed an exciting comeback win over the Maine Red Claws (29-14) on Thursday night by a score of 110-109.

The loss spoils the Red Claws' attempt to become the third team in the D-League to reach 30 wins on the season. The much-needed win by the Drive was just their second in their last eight games.

As in Wednesday's game, Grand Rapids came out of the gates quite strong, jumping out to a 15-7 lead early.

It didn't take nearly as long for Maine to close the gap this time, as they went on a 14-2 run near the end of the first quarter to bring a narrow lead into the second.

This narrow lead, however, proved to be a significant obstacle, as the Red Claws held it until very late in the game. They headed to halftime with a 65-52 lead, punctuated by a circus shot at the halftime buzzer scored by Andre Stringer.

Maine was on fire offensively during the first half, shooting 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the first half. They capitalized on the Drive's rim protector Hasheem Thabeet getting in early foul trouble by an efficient attack near the basket.

The second half was full of runs, with the teams snatching the momentum back from each other in a matter of seconds.

It looked like the Red Claws had the game in the bag, as they lengthened theThe Red Claws lengthened their lead to almost twenty early in the fourth, but the Drive came flying back to eventually take a one-point lead with two minutes to go.

A go-ahead isolation basket by Adonis Thomas put the Drive up three, Maine responded with a basket of their own, and the Drive missed on their end. This gave the Red Claws a chance to win with a buzzer-beater, but a three-pointer clanked off the rim, preventing the two-game sweep.

Nate Wolters quarterbacked the Drive's offense, putting up a big double-double with 20 points and 16 assists. Thomas overcame a slow start to score 26 points to lead the team and grab six rebounds.

Manny Atkins added 16 points and drained four three-pointers.

Romero Osby had a big double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds, carrying the bulk of the load for the Red Claws. Chris Babb had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and James Young, on assignment from the NBA's Boston Celtics, fought through a poor shooting day to post 14 points.

Grand Rapids does not get much of a break after this two-game series, heading to Canton tomorrow night at 7 p.m. to take on the Charge. The Red claws are in Texas the next day, Saturday March 21, for a game against the Legends.

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics



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