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G League Grand Rapids Drive

Grand Rapids Nearly Beats D-League's Best Team

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


SIOUX FALLS, SD - The Grand Rapids Drive nearly beat the best team in NBA Development League history on Saturday night.

But the second-year franchise lost 107-106 to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in front of 3,102 fans at the Sanford Pentagon.

Ralston Turner drained a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to get the Drive within a point. Turner, a point guard, then stole the inbounds pass and Bruce Massey got a shot off, but it fell short as the buzzer sounded.

Sioux Falls finishes the season with a 40-10 record, the best in league history. The Skyforce beat the Drive in all six meetings this season.

Grand Rapids, the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, concludes the season with a 21-29 record. They were 13-11 at home and 8-18 on the road.

The Drive had a stunning eight players score in double figures. Kam Holsey had a team-high 19 points. He was followed by Turner (15), Dahntay Jones (13), Xavier Ford (12), Melvin Johnson III (11), Gary Talton (11) and Ismael Romero (10). Massey had his first double-double with the Drive. He finished with 12 points and 10 assists.

Grand Rapids went on an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and take a 38-30 lead, highlighted by two Romero buckets. The Drive led 54-47 at halftime with Ford leading the way with 10 points. They led by as many as 11 points in the game.

The Drive signed two players just before the final game of the season. Melvin Johnson III, who went undrafted out of Arkansas State, is playing with his fourth D-League team of the season. Paul Williams, who went undrafted out of Dayton, was with the Drive in preseason but was cut before the start of the season. Williams did not play.

Devin Ebanks, who missed the final two games of the year, led the team in scoring this season at 21.9 points per game. Henry Sims, who was called up to the Brooklyn Nets, averaged 15.7 points and a team-best 8.9 rebounds. Lorenzo Brown, who is playing with the Detroit Pistons, averaged 18.3 points and a team-high 5.8 assists.

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