G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Vipers rally in fourth but fall to Mad Ants 119-114

Published on March 1, 2009 under NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


Despite a late 4th quarter rally and a career high 31 points from Trent Strickland the Vipers were once again stooped from earning a third consecutive win as they dropped a 119-114 contest to the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants Sunday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Vipers have yet to win three straight this season. Ft. Wayne has now won two games in a row.

Strickland scored 28 of his 31 points in the first half, dominating the first 24 minutes with an array of put-back dunks and slash to the basket slams. The Mad Ants neutralized Strickland's production in the second half allowing only three points to the second year Vipers in the final two quarters.

The Vipers also showed why they were one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the league as they hauled in 24 offensive rebounds, 10 better than their season average. The 24 offensive boards were converted into 30-second chance points. The Mad Ants had five points on eight offensive rebounds. The Vipers dominated the total rebounding battle 47-31.

Rio Grande Valley earned their final lead of the game with 1:46 remaining on a Marcus Hubbard putback lay-up to give RGV a 112-111 lead. Ft. Wayne point guard Walker Russell on the ensuing possession hit a contested three-pointer in the left corner to give the Mad Ants the lead 114-112 which they would not relinquish. The Mad Ants closed out the game on an 8-2 run.

Jared Jordan had the Vipers lone double-double, his fifth of the season as he scored 10 points and dished out 14 assists. Jawad Williams scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half while hauling in seven rebounds, while Ernest Scott and Marcus Hubbard each chipped in with 16 points off the bench. RGV's bench outscored Ft. Wayne 39-3.

Ron Howard led all Ft. Wayne scorers with 28 points. Walker Russell scored 26 and dished out 11 assists as the lone Mad Ant to tall a double-double. Taj McCullough scored 26 and Chris Hunter scored 25 for Ft. Wayne in the winning effort.

The Vipers will return home for a match-up with division rival Albuquerque on Tuesday night. It will be the Thunderbirds final trip to Dodge Arena this season. Tip-off for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

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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NBA G League Stories from March 1, 2009


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