Late Rally Lifts Flash to Third Straight Victory
December 21, 2008 - NBA G League (G League)
Utah Flash News Release
Anaheim, Ca. Dec. 21, 2008-The Utah Flash rallied behind a 31 point fourth quarter to overcome a 12 point deficit in the final period en route to a 101-98 NBA Development League victory over host Anaheim Arsenal Sunday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The Flash, who trailed by as many as 19 in the second half, outscored the Arsenal 31-16 in the final period of play to pick up their third-consecutive victory, and snap a three-game road losing streak.
"On the road you have to find a way to hang in there." Flash coach Brad Jones said. "To our guys credit we just hung in there and finally their (Anaheim) shooting percentage started to come down and we started to make some shots."
The Flash even up their record at 5-5 and will face the Colorado 14ers on their second game of a four game road swing, while the Arsenal drop to 3-8 and will return home Saturday for a showdown with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds.
The Flash cut the fourth quarter deficit in half after a J.R. Giddens brought the Arsenal lead to just six points at 84-78. Utah finished the final six minutes of the contest on a 19-8 run that included Utah's first lead of the game after a Bill Walker free-throw with 23 seconds left gave the Flash a 99-98 advantage.
Walker gave the Flash a three point lead after knocking two free-throws with 12 seconds left. The Arsenal had a shot for the tie, but Tierre Brown was unable to connect from beyond the arc at the final buzzer.
The Flash knocked down 32-of-37 free-throws in the contest-including 12-of-16 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter comeback.
"Sometimes on the road it's easy to settle for jumpers, but we didn't do that tonight." Jones added. "We had some energy about us and late in the game we went to the basket and put some pressure on the defense and on the referees."
Boston Celtics assignee J.R. Giddens doubled up for the Flash with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Fellow Celtics assignee added 14 points. Brian Jackson and Dontell Jefferson each added 13 points for the Flash, and Carlos Wheeler and Grant each chipped in 12 points from the Flash bench.
The Arsenal were led by James White's game-high 28 points. Cedric Bozeman added 16 points for the Arsenal, while Marcus Campbell added 10 points. Brown finished with 21 points in the losing effort.
• Discuss this story on the NBA G League message board...
NBA G League Stories from December 21, 2008
- Baker Breaks Record in Wizards Win - Dakota Wizards
- Flash Rally Past the Arsenal - Anaheim Arsenal
- Late Rally Lifts Flash to Third Straight Victory - Utah Flash
- Streaking Toros Rally to Beat Vipers - Austin Spurs
- Rockets to Join Vipers on ESPN Radio - Rio Grande Valley Vipers
- NBA D-League Daily Developments -- December 21, 2008 - G League
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
