D League

Regular Season Round 73: Maine RC - Tulsa 66ers 100-99

Date: April 6, 2012
Morris Almond has won his share of games with last-second shots. Friday night, he proved he can make a late-game difference on defense as well. Almond blocked a shot by Robert Vaden with two seconds left to save the Maine Red Claws' 100-99 victory over the Tulsa 66ers at the Portland Expo. The loss eliminated Tulsa from playoff contention. Maine (20-29) nearly blew a 15-point fourth-quarter lead, scoring just 15 points in the final period, but held on because of Almond's defensive play. "The guy we rely on to score all the time makes a great defensive play to win it," said Maine Coach Dave Leitao. "Vaden tried to drive on Mo. Hands up, good block." "Mo is our best scorer," said point guard Kenny Hayes, who led the Red Claws with 23 points. "But a lot of people don't realize he's probably one of our best rebounders. And when he wants to play defense, Mo can lock you up." The Red Claws appeared in control when Hayes hit two free throws for a 99-94 lead with 22.4 seconds left. But then Hayes knocked down Larry Owens as Owens threw in a 3-pointer from in front of the Red Claws' bench with 18 seconds left. Owens hit the foul shot and it was suddenly 99-98. Xavier Silas hit the second of two foul shots with 17.3 seconds left for a 100-98 lead. Then Hamady Ndiaye of Maine fouled Jerome Dyson, who had a game-high 26 points, with 13.5 seconds left. Dyson hit the first but missed the second. Tulsa's Marcus Lewis got the rebound and passed to Vaden, who missed a jumper. The ball was tipped around, back to Vaden on the right wing. "My man set a screen so we switched and it was one-on-one," said Almond, who finished with 18 points. "He drove, I contested it and got a fingertip on it. That was enough. "They had us on our heels a bit (after the four-point play by Owens). We just wanted to get out of here with a win." This wasn't a pretty game for the most part. Tulsa's defense slowed it, forcing Maine to play at a much more deliberate pace than it wanted. But the Red Claws got untracked in the third quarter, moving from a 52-51 halftime lead to 85-73 entering the fourth. "We're at our best when we play fast," said forward Lawrence Hill, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. "Then what we did in the third, I think we got away from it in the fourth." Or as Leitao said, "We flat-lined in the fourth." A Silas reverse layup gave Maine a 91-76 lead with 7:47 left. Then Tulsa, fighting for its playoff life, regrouped and held Maine to nine points the rest of the way. But the Red Claws held on and, said Almond, that was important. "We talked about this in practice, we wanted to finish these games strong," said Almond. "We didn't want to put in a poor effort, not in front of our home fans." *Courtesy of www.pressherald.com
  MAINE RC (coach: Phil Pressey)100
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
86 SlBIjd, bIQQas 47 9-66 (14.1%) 6-0 (85%) 6-8 (05%) 5 3 3 5 4 5 6 6 5 4 62 7 5
65 HiFRs, KRjjF 41 0-66 (30.0%) 8-8 (655%) 9-2 (29.0%) 6 3 0 1 8 5 5 5 5 8 84 84 5
  mIJRBij, CRdQaZ 40 0-2 (18.0%) 6-6 (655%) 3-3 (655%) 5 0 0 0 6 5 5 5 5 8 69 86 5
84 Hall, viTQRjZR 40 3-68 (44.4%) 8-3 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 8 1 2 1 6 5 4 8 5 5 63 88 5
  X'gaiFR, HiBidF 46 3-2 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5-4 (5%) 4 3 9 5 8 5 8 3 5 5 2 68 5
64 Aalis, NiLaRQ 86 4-9 (38.7%) 6-3 (80%) 8-3 (05%) 5 8 8 5 4 5 5 5 5 6 66 -6 5
05 KRjU, SjUhIjF 61 4-4 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 4 4 1 6 6 5 5 8 5 6 9 64 5
  GRQQaUF, baVR 66 6-3 (80%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 8 6 5 6 5 5 6 8 6 5
  wQipija, zIR 2 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 5 3 5 5 5 5 8 5 -0 5
43 mQITjlRR, zusUaj 3 5-5 (5%) 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 5
wIUil   48-10 (37.8%) 9-69 (36.8%) 60-84 (10.8%) 7 43 34 86 62 5 9 7 5 68 655 79  


  TULSA 66ERS (coach: Kameron Woods)99
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
  gFsIj, zRQIBR 35 2-60 (04.4%) 5-4 (5%) 65-63 (96.3%) 6 6 8 8 8 5 4 5 5 5 81 61 5
  PTRjs, viQQF 49 0-65 (05%) 8-3 (05%) 6-6 (655%) 4 9 65 3 0 5 6 5 5 6 69 61 5
44 vRTas, biQZus 41 1-64 (31.8%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 3 2 68 3 3 5 6 5 5 0 68 68 5
  eRad, eFij 43 2-61 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 3-3 (655%) 3 7 64 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 85 67 5
45 kidRj, eIMRQU 48 8-2 (80%) 8-1 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 65 -4 5
68 bIQjajDsUiQ, mQidF 80 5-6 (5%) 5-6 (5%) 6-6 (655%) 5 6 6 5 8 5 5 5 5 6 6 -4 5
  ziBRs, gRlQIF 69 8-3 (05%) 5-8 (5%) 3-3 (655%) 8 8 3 6 8 5 6 5 5 6 2 9 5
  PnIuDMIh, XVRB 66 8-3 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 6 4 3 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 0 9 5
  CQRRVBIQR, Wall 3 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 5 8 5 5 6 5 6 5 -6 5
wIUil   44-98 (30.2%) 3-61 (80.5%) 86-81 (25.2%) 60 44 32 63 86 5 1 8 5 64 77 95  



Terms:
Field Goals :  2PM-A  (2 point Field Goal made-attempts)     3PM-A  (3 point Field Goal made-attempts)   FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive)  DEF (Defensive)   TOT  (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed)  RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor)  AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes)  AST (assists)  ST (steals)   TO (Turnovers)   PTS (points)  RNK (ranking)