HIDALGO, Texas — Mustafa Shakur scored 24 points and the the Rio Grande Valley Vipers held off the Maine Red Claws to win their seventh-straight, 119-110, in an NBA Development League game at State Farm Arena.
The Vipers (14-7) led by as many as 26 in the first half, taking advantage of poor shooting by the Red Claws (10-14), who made just 18 of 41 field goals.
Maine turned it around in the third quarter, making 13 of 19 field goals, including all three of their 3-pointer attempts, while holding the Vipers to 8 of 21 from the field.
Matt Janning cut the lead to 12 (90-78) on a 3-pointer with 14.6 left in the third quarter and Jerel McNeal (21 points) made a free throw for the Vipers for a 91-78 lead after three quarters.
The Red Claws scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to five, 91-86.
The Vipers up their lead to nine, 98-89, on a driving layup by Shakur with 8:21 left before Maine finally got the run it needed.
The Red Claws outscored Rio Grande Valley 10-2 over the next minute and a half to pull to within one, 100-99. Mario West made a layup, Champ Oguchi hit two free throws and Avery Bradley and Jamar Smith drained consecutive 3-pointers during the rally.
But it ended nearly has quickly as it started as Maine went on to miss its next four shots and commit three technical fouls over the next 3:15 to trail 115-99.
DeShawn Sims finished with 24 points, while Tiny Gallon, Champ Oguchi and Bradley each had 16 points for the the Red Claws, who have lost three-straight, five of their last six and are 2-7 this month after winning 5 of 6 during the last two weeks of December.
The Red Claws fell behind 6-0 on consecutive 3-pointers by Mouhammad Faye in the opening 1:05.
The Red Claws got to within two on three occasions in the first half, the last on a layup by Avery Bradley with 2:42 left in the first quarter to make it 27-25. Each time the Vipers responded with a rally, including a 11-2 run to close the quarter for a 38-27 lead.
After making 5 of 8 3-pointers in the first quarter, the Vipers continued their long-range success in the second quarter, hitting 4 of 8. The Vipers made three in a row, two by Terrel Harris and one by Shakur, during a 14-0 run that put them ahead 59-34 with 5:32 left in the quarter.
The Vipers built their largest lead, 67-42, with left on a jumper by Jeff Adrien, who had 12 points in the first half , with 1:42 left, but went into halftime with a 69-46 lead.
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