Tulsa falls to Roanoke
Published on February 15, 2006 under NBA G League (G League)
Tulsa 66ers News Release
TULSA, Okla., February 15, 2006 - A lot of high scorers tonight, but not enough for the Tulsa 66ers as the Roanoke Dazzle took the sixth-place standing in the D-League overall record (14-16) with a 128-121 win in Tulsa Wednesday night at the Expo Square Pavilion.
The battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the D-League is starting to heat up as the second half of the regular season is now well under way for all teams. Four teams are within 2.5 games of each other as play began Wednesday night. Both teams entered the night with identical 13-16 records, but the Dazzle knew it would take some heroic efforts to go on the road and steal a game as they were without their leading scorer, Will Bynum, due to injury. Bynum leads the D-League in scoring with 24.5 ppg. Heroic is just what Roanoke head coach Kent Davison got early on a team-wide basis.
The Dazzle came out firing hitting their first five points from the field and building a 14-7 lead in less than four minutes. The hot shooting would continue throughout the first, led by Roanoke forward Isiah Victor and guard Anthony Grundy, who each finished the quarter with 11 points. Victor finished the night with 31 points and seven assists. Grundy led all scorers, finishing with a double-double of 34 points and 10 rebounds. Grundy also managed to help out the team with seven assists. The Dazzle's shooting was at 71 percent from the field and 83 from behind the arch. The quarter ended with Roanoke leading 39-24.
The Dazzle would continue to build their lead early in the second stretching it to 20 at 49-29 with 8:35 remaining in the half. However, the 66ers began to come out of their daze cutting the lead to 50-39 about halfway through the second quarter.
Tulsa guard Desmon Farmer paced the 66ers coming off the bench in the first half with 14 points. Tulsa continued to peck away at the lead reducing it to five with just over two minutes remaining. But, the Dazzle heated back up late going on a 6-2 run to close the half and took a 65-54 lead into the locker room. Farmer would go on to finish out the night with 14 points.
Tulsa guard John Lucas III, after a quiet first half seeing him with only 6 points, came out the locker room like a man possessed. Lucas and the rest of the 66ers rode 15 straight points by Lucas on a 21-8 run to open the half and were finally able to gain the lead at the 6:21 mark as Lucas drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. Lucas would go on to finish with Tulsa's high of 30 points and added six assists.
The Dazzle were able to recover from the Lucas onslaught and Roanoke guard Seth Doliboa, who finished with 27 points, hit a long two-point jump shot with :06 left to give the Dazzle a 86-84 lead.
Tulsa was able to regain the lead early in the fourth and had a 98-95 lead going under the 8:00 mark, but once again, Grundy picked up the Dazzle hitting a long three with a defender in his face to tie the game and spark what would grow to a 9-0 Roanoke run.
Tulsa guard Eddie Basden, recently assigned to Tulsa by the Chicago Bulls, ended the run nailing a key three to cut the Dazzle lead to 104-101 with just under six minutes to play.
In the end, the Roanoke's big three made up of Grundy, Victor and Doliboa combined for 92 of the Dazzle's 128 final points and seemed just too much for Tulsa. Doliboa's three-pointer with 4:41 remaining proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Tulsa. The final score was 128-121.
"When you score 121 points you expect that you're going to win," said Tulsa 66ers head coach Joey Meyer, "but, we just couldn't guard them. Grundy and Victor were just amazing. Sometimes you simply have to give the other team credit."
The loss runs Tulsa's record to 13-17 and the win improves the Dazzle to 14-16. Roanoke will return to their home court as they play host to the first-place Florida Flame on Friday. Tulsa will take on the Austin Toros at home on Saturday, February 18th with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at the Expo Square Pavilion.
NBA G League Stories from February 15, 2006
- Tulsa falls to Roanoke - Tulsa 66ers
- Arkansas Acquires Campbell, League Suspends Walsh - G League
- NBA D-League Daily Developments - G League
- Flame to Make Appearance - Florida Flame
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