Withers' Late Bucket Lifts Dakota Over Idaho
February 22, 2010 - NBA G League (G League)
Dakota Wizards News Release
BISMARCK, ND, February 22, 2010 - After two disheartening losses in Sioux Falls over the weekend, the Dakota Wizards returned home to the comfort of the Bismarck Civic Center on Monday night to take on the Idaho Stampede. And as they have so many other times this season, the Wizards found a way to win at the Civic Center down the stretch.
After a fairly even first quarter, Idaho opened up a big lead in the second frame. They used a 14-3 run late in the period to take a 58-47 lead with under a minute to play in the first half. Despite Dakota's Romel Beck nailing a late jumper, the Stampede took a comfortable nine point lead into the locker room. Andre Barrett sparked Idaho in the half, scoring eleven points while teammate Mildon Ambres came off the bench to add ten points and five rebounds.
Idaho's Donell Taylor came out of the intermission gunning. His nine points in the third quarter helped the Stampede extend their lead to 15 points with a little over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Dakota's Renaldo Major also found his stroke and went 3-of-3 from the field en route to nine points in period. His jumper with 2.7 seconds left in the third cut Idaho's lead to 84-76 entering the final frame.
Dakota reeled off twelve straight points to start the fourth quarter, and guard Darren Cooper was a big reason why. First he found Maurice Baker open for a three, and then he grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for an easy layup. Finally, Cooper drained a 3-pointer of his own after a nice pass from Major and Dakota found itself with a 90-86 lead with a little over eight minutes left in the contest. The two teams continued to trade baskets, with a layup from Beck giving the Wizards a 104-103 lead with 1:08 to play. On the other end of the floor, a foul on Dakota's Cheyne Gadson sent Taylor to the line where he calmly stepped up and sunk two free throws. Coming out of a timeout, Idaho keyed on Beck, leaving Dakota's Withers open for a drive to the basket and a beautiful finger roll with 4.8 seconds left to take a 106-105 lead. A huge steal by Gadson on the defensive end sealed the come-from-behind win for the Wizards.
Major led a balanced Dakota scoring effort with 17 points off of the bench while Withers added 13 points and 8 boards. Taylor led Idaho in the scoring column with 22 points and Lance Allred had a big game for the Stampede with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Wizards will travel to Erie for a pair starting on Thursday while Idaho will hit the road for two in Albuquerque, also starting on Thursday.
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