DORSEY DOMINATES IN SHOWCASE WIN OVER JAM

BOISE, Idaho – Houston Rockets assignee Joey Dorsey tied a career high with 27 points and set a new career high in rebounds with 22 as the Rio Grande Valley Vipers knocked off the Bakersfield Jam 115-107 Wednesday afternoon at the NBA Development League Showcase in Boise Idaho. The Vipers are now 11-4 on the season while the Jam fall to 3-13 on the year. The win for RGV is just their second in franchise history at the 2010 NBA D-League Showcase.

In a game with little rhythm the Vipers took a 58-50 lead into half time. The Vipers went on a 9-2 run capped off by a Joey Dorsey tip-in at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter to take a 50-40 lead. They would expand their first half lead to as many as 13 before going into the locker room with an eight point lead.

The Jam would not go quietly, especially in the third quarter. The Jam, after falling behind by nine, proceeded on a 14-5 run, capped off by a Rodney Web jumper to tie the game at 70 with a little over four minutes left to play in the half. The rest of third quarter was mostly Vipers. RGV hit four three-pointers, including three by Ernest Scott on a 16-5 run to end the quarter to go into the final stanza with an 86-75 lead. The Vipers would lead by as many as 16 in the final quarter en route to the eight point victory.

Dorsey was perfect 11-1 from the field o lead all scorers with his 27 points, tying his career high set on 12/21 versus the Reno Bighorns. Five additional Vipers scored in double-figures Antonio Anderson had a strong bounce back game after scoring just four points on Monday, he tallied 17 and dished out seven assists to help the Viper cause. Ernest Scott hit four three-pointers off the bench to tally 12 points, while Will Conroy pitched in with 14 points and seven assists. The Vipers dominated on the boards, out-rebounding the Jam 47-36.

Bakersfield’s Amara Sy finished a rebound shy of a double-double after tallying 24 points. Jeremy Wise and James Jackson each added 19 points in the loss for Bakersfield.

The Vipers will continue their stretch of games away from Dodge Arena on Saturday when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa to face the Iowa Energy. It will be the first of back-to-back games against the Eastern Conference leaders. 

VIPERS FALL TO THUNDERBIRDS IN SHOWCASE OPENER

BOISE, Idaho – The Rio Grande Valley Vipers were outscored 56-42 in the second half en-route to a disappointing 101-84 defeat to the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in the opening game of the NBA Development League Showcase Monday afternoon at Qwest Arena in Boise. The Vipers are now 0-3 in their first game of a D-League Showcase.

The Vipers were playing the second half of a back-to-back after winning in Los Angeles on Sunday, the travel seemed to affect them as they scored just 42 points in the first half. The Vipers also committed 13 first half turnovers but trailed only by three at the half. The Vipers kept it close thanks to Garrett Temple’s 13 first half points.

The Vipers (10-4) never saw the lead for the remainder of the game. Albuquerque (5-9) began the third quarter on 13-4 run capped off by a Yaroslov Korolev three-point play to give the Thunderbirds a 58-46 lead with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter. The T-birds would close out the third stanza on a 7-0 run to lead 77-64 at the end of three quarters. Albuquerque would lead by as many as 19 as they cruised to the win.

Temple led all Viper scorers with 18 points. Will Conroy scored 13 and hauled in six rebounds in his first start in a Viper uniform. Craig Winder and Jonathan Wallace scored 11 and 10 points respectively off the bench in the losing effort for Rio Grande Valley. Houston Rockets assignee Joey Dorsey hauled in a team high 11 rebounds for RGV.

Korolev and Carlos Powell each tallied 20 points to shoulder the scoring load for the Thunderbirds. Korolev also added a team-high seven rebounds. Antoine Agudio, starting for the injured Keith McLeod, scored 15, hauled in 5 boards and dished out five assists while Shane Edwards chipped in 14 points off the bench in the win for Albuquerque. It was the Thunderbirds first win versus Rio Grande Valley since January 9^th of 2009.

The Vipers will return to action on Wednesday when they round out their 2010 D-League Showcase appearance with a match-up against the Bakersfield Jam. Tip-off is schedule for 2:45 Central time. 

VIPERS DROP SECOND STRAIGHT IN OT LOSS TO TULSA

GAME RECAP

 The Rio Grande Valley Vipers surrendered an 11 point fourth quarter lead and missed several opportunities late, as they dropped their second straight game 94-89 to the Tulsa 66ers in overtime Saturday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. Saturday gave the Vipers their first pair of consecutive losses during the 2009-10 season.

The Vipers began the game sluggish offensively for the second straight night shooting just 39% at the end of the first period and trailing Tulsa 20-16. Vipers trailed by only one at halftime after outscoring Tulsa 21-18 in the second stanza.

The Vipers began the third quarter hot and looked like they would pull away. They scored 10 of the first 13 points in the third frame and eventually outscored Tulsa 35-23 in the period to take an 11 point lead into the final frame. In the fourth quarter Tulsa exploded on a 20-2 run and led 81-74 with four minutes remaining in regulation. The Vipers would answer back with a 9-2 run of their own to close out the quarter and had a chance to take the lead before Tulsa final fourth quarter possession, but Viper forward Mike Harris missed the first of his two free throws and could only tie the game at 83. Mustafa Shakur missed a jumper on Tulsa’s final possession of regulation, and Garrett Temple missed a fall-away jumper at the buzzer from 18 feet out to send the game into the extra session.

The Vipers once again struggled to find the bucket in overtime. With RGV down 91-89 the Vipers had three consecutive possessions on which they could have tied or taken the lead. The most dramatic of which involved a designed play out of time out for Ernest Scott who missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key with 15 seconds left on the game clock.

 Harris netted a new career high for points with 35 on Saturday night. Harris added 12 rebounds to tally his second double-double of the season. Houston assignee Joey Dorsey added his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and tying his season high with 18 rebounds. Antonio Anderson scored 17 while Garrett Temple added sixteen to round out the double-digit scorers for RGV. Larry Owens led the scoring output for Tulsa with 19, while Mustafa Shakur added 13 points and six assists in the winning effort.

The Vipers return home Monday for the first of three straight games at Dodge Arena when they host the Reno Bighorns. Former Vipers Desmon Farmer and Marcus Hubbard will make their returns to Dodge Arena in visiting uniforms. Tip-off from Hidalgo is schedule for 7:30 pm

VIPERS WIN STREAK COMES TO AN END IN TULSA

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Tulsa 66ers expanded on their nine point half time lead by starting the third quarter on a 22-2 run to put the game out of reach as they ended the Rio Grande Valley Vipers six-game win streak with a 108 -90 win Friday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. The loss was just the Vipers second of the season with both defeats coming on the road.

Friday’s game looked like it would be a tight game early. The two squads traded the lead 14 times in the first 12 minutes. The 66ers then led by as many as 11 in the first half. The Vipers notched the final basket of the second quarter, a late lay-up by Antonio Anderson hoping it could lead to a momentum boost to start the second half. That boost did not happen as the 66ers outscored RGV 34-21 in the third stanza of hoops to take an 89-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t come to play tonight,” Vipers Head Coach Chris Finch said. “I could kind of smell this one coming, we had a good week of practice but were not ready to play this one tonight.”

Mike Harris, the D-League’s second leading scorer, tallied 17 of his 19 points in the first half while chipping in with six rebounds in the loss for the Vipers. Antonio Anderson scored 17 of his team high 23 points in the second half while also dishing out a team high six assists. Houston Rockets assignee Joey Dorsey finished a rebound shy of a double-double as he added 11 points, scoring all of them in the first half.

Tulsa’s Larry Owens led their scoring output with 27 points, chipping in with seven boards and four assists in the win for the 66ers. Mustafa Shakur dominated the point guard match-up scoring 16 points dishing out eight assists and hauling in six boards with just one turnover. Cecil Brown knocked down four three-point hoops and scored 22 points, just one off of his season high.

The Vipers and 66ers will meet again Saturday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. It will be the final time the Vipers will play a game in Tulsa during the 2009-10 season. Tip-off  for the re-match is schedule for 7:30 pm. Viper fans can follow all the action on the radio by tuning in to104.9 JACK FM.

THUNDERBIRDS DOMINATE BOARDS, BEAT VIPERS 116-10

HIDALGO, Texas-

Albuquerque guard Will Conroy, the D-League’s leading scorer, tallied a game high 25 points and dished out 10 assists in the Thunderbirds 116-105 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Saturday night at Dodge Arena. The Thunderbirds led the game by as many as 26 points en-route to just their third victory of the season. Rio Grande Valley lost their first game of 2009 and fell to 7-9 on the season. The Thunderbirds dominated the glass by outrebounding the Vipers 47-31.

The Thunderbirds scored at a frantic first half pace and did not let up. Cory Underwood’s jump hook with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter capped off a 10-2 run and gave the T-birds a 45-35 lead. The Vipers would not get within eight points the rest of the game as the Thunderbirds continued to put the offensive pressure on into the third quarter where they outscored RGV 32-26 and led 93-73 going into the final period.

All five starters and scored in double figures and forwards David Monds and David Noel hauled in double-doubles to help in the Thunderbirds victory. Monds scored 21 and brought down 13 boards, while Noel dropped in 21 points and 11 rebounds. Cory Underwood added 19 points shooting 8/10 from the field.

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

The Vipers and Thunderbirds will both travel to the D-League Showcase in Orem, Utah. The Vipers will face the expansion Reno Bighorns on Monday night at 8:15 pm CST. The Thunderbirds face the Sioux Falls Skyforce at 11:00 AM MST on Monday.

Toros Ram Past Vipers

A strong defensive effort from the Austin Toros, and a poor shooting night from the entire Rio Grande Valley roster led to the lowest point total in franchise history as the Vipers fell 110-75 to the Austin Toros Thursday night at the Austin Convention Center. The win for the Toros breaks their four game losing skid, and the loss for the Vipers is their third straight defeat away from Dodge Arena.

The Vipers kept the game close in the first half despite shooting just 31% from the field. They lead for the majority of the first quarter before surrendering the lead at the 4:45 mark on a Serge Angounou bank shot from the wing giving the Toros a 14-12 advantage. The Vipers unfortunately would not sniff the lead for the remainder of the game. The Toros outscored the Vipers 22-18 in the second quarter and led 46-36 at intermission.

After the Vipers closed a 10-point halftime deficit to three, the Toros exploded for a 19-3 run and would lead by 25 at the end of the third quarter. Rio Grande Valley did not fare much better into the fourth as Austin outscored RGV 33-23 and ran their lead to as many as 40 points as the Vipers could not find the answer offensively to the stifling Austin defense. Rio Grande Valley shot just 32% from the field in the loss.

Ivan Johnson led the scoring load for the Vipers with 18 points off the bench. Vipers leading scorer Desmon Farmer was limited to only 17 points on 5-16 shooting. Kris Collins in his second straight start for the banged up Quin Humphrey scored 13 on a poor shooting night for him as well.

The Toros had six players tally double figures, and everyone on their roster scored. Marcus Williams scored 25 to lead the way for the Austin. Justin Bowen added a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, while DeMarr Johnson scored 19 in the Toros 26th win of the season.

The Vipers 75 points on Thursday, is the lowest point total in the young history of the franchise. The Vipers will play their final game versus their in-state rival on Friday night with a 7:00 pm tip-off at the Austin Convention Center.

Vipers Comeback Falls Short at Tulsa

Tulsa, OK; March 14, 2008-

Despite falling behind by 18 points on a hot shooting night by the Tulsa 66ers, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers fought their way back to tie the game at the end of regulation, but ultimately fell short of the win. The Vipers fell to the Tulsa 66ers 123-117 in overtime at Expo Square Pavilion Friday night. The Vipers loss now guarantees a below .500 season for the first year franchise. The loss is their second straight overall and on the road.

The Vipers fell behind early, due to the sizzling start by Tulsa. The 66ers shot 80% from the field and from three-point range in the first quarter and led 43-27 after the first period. Tulsa would relinquish their double-digit lead only twice for the next two quarters. Tulsa led 87-75 after three quarters.

A 16-8 run to start the 4th quarter pulled RGV to within four points and prompted an immediate timeout from 66ers Head Coach Joey Meyer. The Vipers did not lead for the entire game until there was 2:53 remaining in regulation when Kris Collins scored to give RGV a 103-102 lead. The Vipers would lead just once more in the rest of the game.

Tulsa led by three points in the final minute of regulation until Desmon Farmer tallied a three-point play that tied the game at 108. Rio Grande Valley had a chance to win it with 2.7 seconds remaining in regulation, but Trent Strickland’s runner in the lane fell short, forcing overtime.

Adam Harrington was lights-out from the outside for Tulsa. The former Auburn Tiger scored a season high 36 points before fouling out. Harrington hit two big threes in overtime on back-to-back possessions to give the 66ers a six-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Farmer scored a new Vipers franchise record 44 points in the Viper loss. Farmer was four points away from his career high set last season as a member of the 66ers. Five other Vipers scored in double figures including Ivan Johnson’s 14 points and 12 rebounds in his Viper debut. Kris Collins was two assists away from a double-double after scoring 14 points of his own.

Rio Grande Valley will play three straight games versus the Austin Toros with the first being at Dodge Arena on Sunday night. Tip-off for Sunday’s game is 5:00 pm.