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G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Vipers Fall Short of Comeback in OT

March 21, 2008 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


Austin, TX; March 20, 2008-

The Vipers found themselves as many as 23 points down in the second half and fought back to force overtime, but could not finish the comeback as they fell to the Austin Toros 112-105 in the extra session at the Austin Convention Center Friday night. The Vipers loss is their fourth straight away from Dodge Arena and completes their road schedule for their inaugural season.

The game on Friday was almost a mirror image of Thursday's game, as the Vipers could not find their shooting touch in the first two quarters as they scored just 36 first half points. As the Toros ran their lead to 23 in the second half, the Vipers wanted to avoid a rehash of the 35-point loss from the previous night. The Vipers closed out the 3rd quarter on a 9-0 run to pull within 13 to start the final quarter.

A 10-3 run by the Vipers to start the final period, capped off by an Ivan Johnson lay-up, pulled Rio Grande Valley to within six at 80-74. Desmon Farmer pulled Rio Grande Valley to within one as his three-point play with 1:00 remaining in regulation made the score 97-96. Sergio Sanchez gave the Vipers their first lead since the :25 mark of the first quarter on his 25-foot three point heave with San Antonio Center Ian Mahinmi in his face, gave Rio Grande Valley a 99-97 lead with 16.6 seconds remaining. Mahinmi redeemed himself on the offensive end with an offensive rebound and game tying dunk with 5.3 seconds remaining. Despite the final possession at the end of regulation the Vipers could not convert forcing the game into overtime. Austin outscored RGV 13-6 in OT to notch their sixth win in eight tries against the Vipers.

Farmer scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half and overtime, while dishing out six assists and pulling down five rebounds in the loss. Farmer's 27 led all scorers. Ivan Johnson tallied a double-double, his second as a Viper with 17 points and 14 boards off the bench. Trent Strickland scored 15 and added 7 rebounds.

Austin was led by their big men on Friday as Mahinmi scored 25 points and hauled in 16 rebounds while blocking five shots. Former San Antonio call-up Marcus Williams added a double-double of his own scoring 19 and tallying 17 boards.

The Vipers have six games remaining on their schedule and all will be played at Dodge Arena. The Vipers next game will be on Monday night as they host the Tulsa 66ers for the first of back-to-back games. Tip-off is 7:00 pm in Hidalgo.

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