truebluefan

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Roanoke Dazzle travel to Albuquerque and pick up two big wins to jump past the Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot with only a little over a month remaining in the season. In a game that included 15 lead changes, Roanoke was able to pull away late and leave with an 87-81 victory.

The first quarter was back and forth with Albuquerque able to grab a 21-18 lead but the Thunderbirds would go into the locker room at halftime down 39-40.

Roanoke made a push early in the second half by taking a 54-47 lead, but Albuquerque would keep the game close and take over the lead at 59-58. The remaining minutes of the quarter stayed tight and ended all square 63-63.

With seven minutes to play in the game and the score tied, Roanoke's Anthony Grundy picked up a big three point play that gave Roanoke the lead, which they would never loose. As the game neared the end the Thunderbirds couldn't catch up. Roanoke slowly pulled away and ended with a big win.

"Whoever was able to make a run was going to win tonight, and we were able to do that late," said Roanoke head coach Kent Davison.

Dazzle Guard Will Bynum led all scorers with 22 points and was followed closely by Isiah Victor with 18 points on the night. Other Dazzle players to score in double figures included: Peter Ramos (12 points), Seth Doliboa (10 points), and D'Or Fischer (10 points).

"We are not shooting the ball well right now," said Thunderbird head coach Michael Cooper, "and until we do that we are not going to win."

Ken Johnson led the Albuquerque charge with 17 points and nine rebounds, Tony Bland added 13 points, and Marcus Douthit grabbed an impressive 19 rebounds.

The Thunderbirds will be back home next Thursday, March 2nd to take on the Arkansas RimRockers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm.

Thunderbirds tickets start as low as $9 and can be purchased at abqtbirds.com or at Ticketmaster locations. For premium or group seating call the Thunderbirds office at (505) 265-DUNK. The NBA Development League includes the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.). The D-League offers players the opportunity to develop their talent in a highly competitive atmosphere under the NBA's umbrella. Thirty-eight (38) players have been called up to the NBA on 56 separate occasions. Eleven (11) former D-League coaches, six athletic trainers, 14 referees and 30 front office executives have also been called up since the start of the league's inaugural season in November 2001.

Designed to help grow the sport of basketball both domestically and internationally, the league also offers fun, family entertainment at affordable prices. The D-League is a source of on-court talent for the NBA's 30 teams and is a diverse human resources pool for the NBA and its teams by training employees in management, operations, public relations, sales and marketing positions