G League Grand Rapids Drive

Grand Rapids Drive Outlasts Rio Grande Valley in Double Overtime

March 2, 2016 - NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Lorenzo Brown didn't look rusty after an eight-game layoff.

The Grand Rapids Drive guard scored six points in double overtime and finished with 28 points in a 139-130 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Wednesday afternoon in front of 2,094 fans at the DeltaPlex Arena.

Grand Rapids, the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, snaps a three-game losing streak and improves to 18-19. The Drive is now 4-0 in overtime games. Rio Grande Valley, whose parent team is the Houston Rockets, falls to 20-17.

With 6.8 seconds to go in the first overtime, Henry Sims was fouled and sank both free throws to tie the game at 127-127 and send it to double overtime.

Brown, a 6-foot-9 guard out of North Carolina State, hit a fall-away 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds to go to tie the game at 119-119 to send the game to overtime. Brown, who had missed the past eight games with an injury, played with the Phoenix Suns earlier this season.

Devin Ebanks had his 11th double-double of the season. The 6-foot-9 forward out of West Virginia, led all scorers with 41 points and 13 rebounds. He was 11-of-22 from the field and 17-of-18 from the free-throw line. His 41 points are two shy of his own franchise record of 43.

Sims, a 6-foot-10 center out of Georgetown, had his 12th double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was followed by Dahntay Jones (15), Gary Talton (14) and Kelsey Barlow (11).

Jarvis Threatt and Jordan Hamilton each had 22 points to lead the Vipers. They were followed by Jaron Johnson (20), Will Cummings (19) Chris Walker (16), Sam Dekker (14) and Raphiael Putney (10).

Grand Rapids' Dahntay Jones was fouled driving to the lane and drained two free throws with 27 seconds left to tie the game at 116-116 in regulation. The Vipers' Jordan Hamilton drained a 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left in the game to go up 119-116.

Dekker, who is on assignment from the Rockets, drained back-to-back 3-pointers go give the Vipers a 111-108 lead. Cummings was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes.

Grand Rapids was hot opening the third quarter, going on a 18-4 run to open the third quarter, thanks to Jones, who was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line during the run.

Johnson had the hot hand in the second quarter. He scored eight-straight points for the Vipers, to tie the game at 43-43. Jarvis Threatt and Hamilton had thunderous dunks do cap off the first half, which the Vipers led 67-64 at halftime. Johnson had 16 points at the half. Ebanks had 26 points at halftime for Grand Rapids.

Rio Grande Valley continues its road trip when it travels to the Erie BayHawks on Friday for a 6 p.m. EST start. Grand Rapids kicks off a five-game road trip at the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Friday.

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics



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