One Away

The Vipers just beat the Tulsa 66ers 124-107 in game one of the NBADL Finals. Now it just takes a home win either Tuesday or Thursday and the trophy belongs to Rio Grande Valley.

Of note:

Mike Harris had 10 points in 12 minutes in the first half but was limited by foul trouble (had three). Harris opened the third quarter by scoring eight-straight points in the opening two minutes to give the Vipers a 10-point lead, but picked up his fourth foul and sat our the rest of the quarter. The Vipers still outscore Tulsa 23-21 the rest of the quarter. Harris didn't come back in until the game was out of hand in the fourth when Rich Melzer picked up his fourth foul.

Speaking of Melzer, he had second-straight great game with seven points, eight rebounds, one steal and one block in 17:36.

Will Conroy picked up the second triple-double of the post-season (Iowa's Curtis Stinson had one in the first round) with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. He actually hit the rebounding mark first and the assists last. It took Conroy seemingly forever to get assist #10. He had #9 early in the third but didn't get #10 until midway through the fourth. The 16 rebounds are more than Conroy has ever had in a regular season game (15, 2/20/10 vs. Maine). Did you know Conroy is ninth all-time in regular season rebounds (884)? Everyone thinks of him for assists and scoring, but he's got more than that. Conroy hit a half court shot to give the Vipers a 61-59 lead at halftime. It's only appropriate that Conroy has one of his best games at Tulsa, where his NBA Development League career started.

Julian Sensley had 19 of his 21 points in the first half.

5,453 in attendance at Tulsa, the largest crowd ever at a 66ers home game. Fans in the Rio Grande Valley: let's beat that. And wear red!