Vipers gun down T-Birds
March 3, 2009 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers shot a sizzling 61.7% from the field and were led by Trent Strickland's team high 27 points in a 133-119 win over their Southwest Division rival the Albuquerque Thunderbirds Tuesday night at Dodge Arena. The Vipers have now won three out of their last four games.
The Vipers never trailed in the game and the only tie was 2-2 early in the opening quarter. The Vipers led 33-23 at the end of the first period and would hold a double digit lead for a good majority of the contest. The Vipers led by as many as 19 points before closing out with a 14-point victory.
Jawad Williams scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half to help lead the Viper charge. Williams finished 5-10 shooting from three- point range. Six Viper players scored in double figures. Kurt Looby scored 11 points and hauled in a season high 17 rebounds while blocking five Albuquerque shots. It was Looby's fifth double-double of the season. Jared Jordan tallied his fourth straight double-double and his sixth of the season scoring 16-points while dishing out 10 assists.
Keith Mcleod scored a season high 34-points to lead the scoring charge for the Thunderbirds. Jasper Johnson, the reigning D-League Player of the Month, scored 24 points while hauling in seven boards. Will Conroy scored 20 and tallied nine assists in the losing effort for the T-Birds.
The Vipers will hit the road again on Saturday when they play the first of six straight away from Dodge Arena when they play the first of back-to-back contests against the Tulsa 66ers. Tip-off for Saturday's contest will be at 7:00 pm CT at the Spiritbank Events Center. . The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are a professional basketball team in the NBA Development League (NBA D-League). The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA's official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. The league has produced 15 percent of the players on 2007-08 end-of-season NBA rosters and continues to develop current NBA coaches and referees. In fostering the league's connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote youth basketball, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout this season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast. The Vipers NBA affiliates are the Houston Rockets, and the New Orleans Hornets.
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