Tulsa defeats Arkansas
December 31, 2005 - NBA G League (G League)
Tulsa 66ers News Release
TULSA, Okla. - The Tulsa 66ers rode the back of forward Sean Banks and his game high 28 points in to the New Year by defeating the Arkansas RimRockers 104-88 at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa Saturday night.
The game started out sloppy on both sides, but especially for the 66ers as they fell behind early and trailed 38-29 with 7:12 to go in the first half. Arkansas, who was led by forward Pape Sow's 20 points and 14 rebounds, looked to have the game in control. But, it was Banks and the Tulsa bench that sparked the 66ers to close out the half on a 19-5 run, in which they held the RimRockers to only two made field goals over the last 7:00 plus.
"Our bench really sparked after the sluggish start," said Tulsa head coach Joey Meyer. "Players like Marcus Hill, Seamus Boxley and Cezary Trybanski played with great energy to get us back in the ball game."
Tulsa started out the second half as hot as they had ended the first going on a quick 8-2 run and extending the lead to 56-45 at 9:35 of the third quarter. However, Arkansas on the back of some strong inside play from forward Shawnson Johnson, who finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds, were able to cut the lead to one early in the fourth before the 66ers forward Ersan Ilyasova grabbed a rebound and hit Seamus Boxley deep down court for an easy slam and widened the lead back to three. Ilyasova totaled 8 points and 6 rebounds for the night, while Boxley grabbed 3 points and one rebound.
A series of turnovers and some good shooting from the 66ers' newest member, Marcus Taylor, quickly stretched the lead back to 77-69 with 8:21 remaining. Taylor was recently signed by the 66ers following the Gatorade Callup of John Lucas III to the NBA's Houston Rockets.
Tulsa slammed the door shut on the RimRockers at the 3:30 mark when Desmon Farmer hit Banks on an alley-oop over Arkansas' Chris Shumate, which also drew the foul that extended Tulsa's lead to 90-79. Tulsa ended the game 104-88.
"These games are why you have 11 players on a team," said Meyer. "This was a team win tonight."
The 66ers come back next Friday, January 6, as they take on the Arkansas RimRockers once again. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Expo Square Pavilion.
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