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G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Viper Game Notes

January 20, 2009 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


LAST GAME Jan. 16, 2009 - Rio Grande Valley 104, Tulsa 100 Alpha Bangura scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers held off a furious rally by the Tulsa 66ers for a 104-100 victory Friday night at SpiritBank Event Center.

Trent Strickland added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Vipers (8-14), who led by 25 points midway through the third quarter but needed clutch free-throw shooting by Bangura to end a six-game losing streak.

The 66ers (5-14) trailed, 83-58, before closing the third quarter with an 18-4 run to get within 87-76. The Vipers rebuilt the lead to 16 points on Stanley Asumnu's jumper with 8:59 to go, but Tulsa's Derrick Dial scored six of his 24 points in an 11-0 run that made it 95-90 with 4:16 remaining.

Rio Grande Valley's Jared Jordan ended the run with a layup with 3:27 remaining. Yemi Ogunoye and Keith Clark hit jumpers to make it 97-94 with 53 seconds to go. After another layup by Jordan, Moses Ehambe sank a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game with 24 seconds left. Bangura, who was 12-of-17 from the line, hit 5-of-6 down the stretch to ice the game.

RECENT GAMES

Jan. 14, 2009 - Colorado 129, Rio Grande Valley 110

Jan. 10- Albuquerque 121, Rio Grande Valley 110

Will Conroy scored 30 points and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds built a big lead before holding on for a 121-110 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Saturday night. One night after Conroy drained a buzzer-beater to edge the Vipers, the T-Birds built a 20-point lead, then allowed it to dwindle to two points before recovering to sweep the two game series. David Noel had nine assists for the T-Birds, who won their season-high fifth straight game. Albuquerque (7-10) begins a four-game road trip Thursday at Bakersfield. Trent Stickland had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Vipers (7-13), who have lost five in a row.

Jan. 9 -- Albuquerque 97, Rio Grande Valley 95 Will Conroy recorded 23 points and buried a last-second game-winning bucket as the Albuquerque Thunderbirds topped the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, 97-95, for their fourth straight victory in a memorable thriller on Friday. Keith McLeod connected on a jumper with 47 seconds left to put the T-Birds ahead by four before a 3-pointer by Trent Strickland and a couple of free throws from the Vipers tied the game with 25 ticks remaining. Conroy, nonetheless, didn't shy away in the clutch.

McLeod finished with 19 points for Albuquerque, while David Monds contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds. The game was evenly matched the entire way as it showed in nearly every statistical category. One key difference was rebounding as the Thunderbirds had a 47-36 advantage on the glass. Alpha Bangura paced the Vipers with a game-high 29 points, while Strickland scored 19 and Jared Jordan dished out eight assists.

Jan. 7, 2009 - Sioux Falls 115, Rio Grande Valley 94 Carl Elliott's season-high 28 points led the Sioux Falls Skyforce to a 115-94 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the first game of the third day of action at the 2009 NBA D-League Showcase at the McKay Events Center.

The Futurecast Player of the Game, Elliott complimented his 28 with four assists in the win. Glen McGowan chipped in with 15 points and 15 rebounds while Bobby Jones finished with 20 points as Sioux Falls stretched their second-half lead to as many as 22. "We came out aggressive and we got the job done," Elliott said. "Coach layed out a great game plan for us, and we stuck to it. I'm happy to come away with a win today."

The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the game before Sioux Falls' game-long domination began, with the Skyforce leading by five after one and building it to 12, 52-40, as the half came to a close. Elliott's 18 points and Gary Forbes' 11 off the bench led the way for Sioux Falls in the half. Rio Grande Valley was led by Stanley Asumnu's 19 points, while Smush Parker netted 16 and Alpha Bangura scored 15. Sioux Falls finished their Showcase run 1-1, while Rio Grande Valley went 0-2.

Jan. 5, 2009 -- Reno 102, Rio Grande Valley 78 Antonio Meeking posted 27 points and 15 rebounds as the Reno Bighorns rolled to an easy 102-78 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA Devlopment League Showcase Monday at the McKay Events Center. Meeking scored 10 points in the first and fourth quarters and totaled 17 in the second half to help Reno earn its second straight win and just its third this season. The expansion Bighorns are 2-1 to start January after going 0-10 in December.

Reno built and eight-point halftime lead as Majic Dorsey hit a layup with 30.9 seconds left in the half to make it 50-42. Patrick Ewing Jr. scored nine of his 16 in the first half. Meeking scored 10 of the Bighorns' 30 points in the fourth quarter to close it out. Jesse Smith finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for Reno.

Trent Strickland led the Vipers with 17 points, while Alpha Bangura had 15 and seven rebounds. Joey Dorsey added 12 points, eight boards and five blocks.

Jan. 3, 2009 -- Albuquerque 116, Rio Grande Valley 105 Guard Will Conroy posted a game-high 25 points and dished out 10 assists to help the Albuquerque Thunderbirds earn a 116-105 victory over the host Rio Grande Valley Vipers Saturday night at Dodge Arena.

The Thunderbirds led by as many as 26 points en route to just their third victory of the season. The Vipers fell to 7-9 on the season. Cory Underwood's jump hook with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter capped a 10-2 run that gave the T-Birds a 45-35 lead. The Vipers would not get within eight points the rest of the game. The Thunderbirds continued to put the offensive pressure on into the third quarter where they outscored the hosts 32-26 and led 93-73 entering the final period.

All five Albuquerque starters scored in double figures. Forwards David Monds and David Noel recorded double-doubles -- Monds scored 21 and grabbed 13 boards, while Noel posted 21 points and 11 rebounds. Underwood added 19 points.

Smush Parker scored 18 points and dished out five assists to lead the Vipers. Quin Humphrey and Alpha Bangura each finished with 14 points. Houston Rockets assignee Joey Dorsey played 27 minutes and scored 11 points and tallied six rebound

TEAM NOTES

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vipers are 1-1 lifetime versus Anaheim with their lone win coming on Anaheim's home floor. The Vipers won at the Anaheim Convention Center on November 28th of 2007 CJ Watson scored 26 points in the Viper win. The Vipers lost to the Arsenal on January 18th of 2008 at Dodge Arena. The loss was the first of a franchise record 10 game losing streak.

BANGARANG!:Alpha Bangura scored a game-high 29 points on January 9th at Albuquerque. It was one point shy of tying his best output of the season. It was the sixth time he had scored 20 or more points this season. It raised his points average by 0.7, the highest bump since his 30-point game on December 26th raised his average by 1.2.

JORDANESQUE: Jared Jordan narrowly missed a triple-double on Friday in Tulsa, scoring 12 points and dishing out 11 assists to go with seven rebounds. The first triple-double in D-League history was recorded by former-Viper Smush Parker with the Florida Flame in 2004. Parker had two triple-doubles in the D-League.

SCOUTING RGV: The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are led offensively by guard Alpha Bangura, who scored 19 or more points in six consecutive games from Dec 7th - 18th and is averaging 18.4 points per game. Bangura scored 30 points on December 26th, tied for the highest output by any Viper this season. Bangura has scored at least 14 points in 18-straight games, while starting the last nine. Trent Strickland is at 16.9 points per game. Strickland leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. He scored in double-figures in each of the first 12 games of the season and has done so in 19 of the Vipers' 22 games. The big man leads team in three-point shooting at 41.1%. Jared Jordan is eighth in the league in steals at 2.1 per game.

SCOUTING ANAHEIM: The Anaheim Arsenal are led by the league's leading scorer, James White (24.4 points per game), who also leads the team with a .540 shooting percentage, including a .378 clip from behind the arc and a team-best .858 clip from the foul line. Cedric Bozeman is the team's sharp-shooter, averaging 16.7 points per game and shooting a team-best 40.3% from three-point land. Bozeman has a .511 overall shooting percentage and an 84.9% success rate from the foul line. He leads the team with 3.0 assists per game. Marcus Campbell is the team's leading rebounder (9.1 per game) to go with 9.5 points per game.

OPPOSING COACH- Anaheim Head Coach Sam Vincent in his first season behind the bench in Southern Califrnoia, but its not his first time as a Head Coach in the D-League. Vincent was most recently head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats where he worked for his former Chicago Bulls teammate in Bobcats President Michael Jordan. Vincent coached the Mobile Revelers in the inaguaral DLeague season of 2001-02 where he led the squad to a 36-20 record. He coached the Revelers to the NBDL Championship in his second season. He also lead the Ft. Worth Flyers to the D-League Championship game in 2005-06.

ALPHA MALE - The Vipers acquired shooting guard Alpha Bangura He replaced injured forward Delonte Holland on the roster. At 6-6, 215 lbs, Bangura has the ability to act as a swingman. The 28-year old's points per game total went up every year from the 2001-02 season through the 05-06 season as he went from St. John's University, to the D-League to the Continental Basketball Association. Bangura played for the D-League's North Charleston Lowgators for two seasons from 2002 through 2004, averaging 13 points per game. He then attended training camp with the Washington Wizards before moving onto the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the CBA. He averaged 27.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in 17 games during the 05-06 season before leaving for Portugal, where he averaged 13.2 points in 14 games. Bangura spent last season with San German (Puerto Rico), averaging 20.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17 games.

SEASON 2 BEGINS - The Vipers begin their second season in the D-League at home against a Southwest Division opponent. This is the second straight season the Vipers begin their schedule at home and against a division opponent. Last season the Vipers defeated Austin 104-97 in their first ever game.

SOUTHWEST DIVISION - The Southwest Division in the D-League features five teams in 2007-2008. The Division consists of the expansion Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Tulsa (OK) 66ers, Albuquerque (NM) Thunderbirds, Austin Toros, and D-League runnerup the Colorado 14ers. The Vipers will play each team in the Southwest Division seven times. ROCKETS -- The Houston Rockets are the local affiliate of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for the second straight season. In 07-08 The Rockets sent Forward Steve Novak and Guard Aaron Brooks to the Vipers early in the season. The Rockets assigned Joey Dorsey to RGV on December 26th MOSER RETURNS TO BENCH - Clay Moser was named the new Vipers head coach in July. 08-09 is Mosers return to the bench as a Head Coach. His last coaching stop was for the Jilin Northeastern Tigers in China. Since then Moser has been an Advance Scout for the Sacramento Kings and most recently for the Orlando Magic. HOME SWEET HOME? - The Vipers begin their season with eight straight games at Dodge Arena, meaning the Vipers will play a third of their home schedule before playing their first road contest. The Vipers will have a stretch where they play 11-of-13 games on the road between February and March. The Vipers were 15-9 at Dodge Arena last season. FOUR RETURNING VIPERS - The Vipers return four players from their season ending roster in April. Forward Trent Strickland and Guard Quin Humphrey should be starters for this year's club. Also returning are energy bench players Craig Winder and Stanley Asumnu.

COACHES

Head Coach: Clay Moser The Rio Grande Valley Vipers introduced Clay Moser as their second head coach in franchise history at a news conference on July 8th earlier this year. Moser returns to the bench of spending the last several years as an NBA scout and minor league team executive. Moser graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1987 earning a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management. Moser began his career as head assistant coach for Fergus Falls Junior College in 1984. He moved on Division 1 basketball three years later as assistant coach for the legendary Jim Valvano at North Carolina State University (1987-1989).

His first venture into minor league basketball was in 1989 when he joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce, now of the NBA D-League but formally of the CBA. He served the Skyforce as an Assistant Coach and Assistant Director of Basketball Operations until 1992 when he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager. He would leave the Skyforce in 1994 to serve the CBA as its Senior Vice President and Vice President of Basketball Operations. Upon gaining extensive experience in both basketball and business operations Moser continued his career as an Advance Scout for the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, and most recently with the Orlando Magic. Moser has also been the CEO/General Manager of the Idaho Stampede and

Assistant Head Coach: Robert Pack Thirteen year NBA veteran begins his coaching career in 2008-09 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Pack is known for his outstanding vertical leap and lateral quickness. The 6'2" point guard from USC spent 13 seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Denver Nuggets. In 1994, Pack was part of the Nuggets team that made NBA history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NBA playoffs. One of the game's better dunkers, Pack also was the runner-up in the 1994 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Minneapolis. Pack played for current Houston Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman in 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Portland Trailblazers where he played in the NBA Finals.

Assistant Coach: Eric LeFort Eric LeFort, was born June 3, 1984 and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University. This is his first year coaching on a professional level, but has 3 years experience. He is looking forward to assisting the Vipers in accomplishing a successful second season.

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