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RimRockers Fall to Thunderbirds

February 17, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Arkansas RimRockers News Release


Little Rock, Arkansas February 16 - With a last second dunk by Ken Johnson, the Albuquerque Thunderbirds defeated the Arkansas RimRockers 90-88 and evened the series to 2-2 on the season. Johnson led all players with 24 points and 11 rebounds and led the Thunderbirds to a 17-14 record. The loss dropped the RimRockers to 15-18.

"Our guys played too well down the stretch to have lost this game in the last second," Head Coach Andy Stoglin said. "I just can't believe we didn't pull this one off. We worked hard the entire game to come back from behind and to blow it in the final minutes is disappointing."

The Thunderbirds jumped out to a fast and furious pace, leaving the RimRockers behind early in the first quarter. Tierre Brown scored 10 points for the T-birds, which was one point less than the whole RimRockers team combined. Arkansas made up for the lost points in the second quarter, outscoring Albuquerque 26-20. The RimRockers were able to close the gap by improving their field goal percentage from 19 to 66.7 percent, and ended the first half trailing 44-37.

After struggling briefly in the third quarter, allowing the T-birds to pull away by 15 points, the RimRockers pulled together and patiently closed the gap between the teams. They scored 22 points while allowing the visitors to score 23, but were able to come back to tie in the final quarter of the game.

The lead began to volley between teams when Kareem Reid tossed in a lay-up, pulling the RimRockers within 2 points at 75-77. With 2:36 remaining on the clock, Clay Tucker sank a jump shot and was fouled, tying the game at 83 and then taking the lead by one. The RimRockers lead was short lived after the Thunderbirds scored an easy breakaway bucket, but a foul committed on Brian Jackson allowed him to tie the game once again at 86 before the Thunderbirds finally sealed the game with an unprotected dunk.

"At the end of a game like this, we made the worst possible mistake a team can make; we let a guy go down and make an unguarded dunk. We have got to learn to play smarter. It's the little things that make a difference between a win and a loss." Stoglin said.

Overall, the RimRockers out-performed the Thunderbirds in shooting, going 31-68 from the field compared to the Thunderbirds' 33-73. A combined effort from Marcus Douthit (23 points, 10 rebounds), Tierre Brown (21 points) and Brandon Robinson (10 points) added to Johnson's 24 allowed the Thunderbirds to finish on top. The RimRockers, led by Clay Tuckers' 21 point effort, were able to remain close on the scoreboard. Lawrence Roberts had the RimRockers' only double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kareem Reid led the contest in assists with 8.

Both teams face-off tomorrow night for a rematch and the rights to the series lead. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.

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