Oklahoma City, Okla. (March 10, 2022) – The Rio Grande Valley Vipers (18-6), the NBA G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets, closed out a two-game series against the Oklahoma City Blue (12-15) with a 140-135 overtime win on Thursday afternoon.
The pace for the first quarter was a fast one as both teams were eager to grasp a lead. The quarter was tied seven times. For the first three minutes of the game Oklahoma City Blue had a 12-10 advantage over the Vipers, but the Vipers pulled away with a 21-14 lead. However, with 1:49 remaining in the quarter the game would once again come down to a tie with a score of 26-26. The Blue would go on a 9-0 run to take the advantage of the game 35-26.
With 6:52 remaining in the second the Vipers took slight control of the quarter with a score of 46-45. Despite a tied game at the 6:05 mark, RGV took back its lead and sent the game 67-62 into the half.
Oklahoma came back in the third quarter and tied the game 83-83 with 7:15 still on the clock. Both teams fought for the remainder of the quarter, but the Vipers would come out on top with a score of 103-98.
For the first few minutes of the fourth quarter RGV led by as many as 10 points with a score of 112-102. The Vipers maintained the lead the entire quarter, but just as the game was about to end a three-point buzzer hit from Oklahoma’s Justin Jaworski sent the game into overtime with a score of 131-131.
Both teams battled it out for the win in overtime. RGV went on to score nine points while only allowing the Blue to score 4 points which resulted in a 140-135 victory for the Vipers.
Houston Rockets Two-Way player Trevelin Queen tied his career-high record in points with 43. He also obtained five rebounds and six assists. Marcus Foster hit a career-high in points with 35. Christian Vital came off the bench to put up 25 points. Anthony Lamb added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Tyler Bey tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Mfiondu Kabengele led the team in rebounds with 10.
Oklahoma was led by Scotty Hopson with 38 points and five rebounds. Jaylen Hoard was just shy of a double-double with 27 points and nine rebounds. Zavier Simpson hit a double-double with 26 points and 13 assists. Jaworski totaled 19 points.
The Vipers return to the Bert Ogden Arena tomorrow night to take on the Iowa Wolves. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Fans unable to attend the game may live stream it via the NBAGleague.com website. For more information visit www.rgvipers.com