HIDALGO, Texas — The Rio Grand Valley Vipers scored the first 15 points and buried a barrage of 3-pointers in a 139-122 victory over the Maine Red Claws Tuesday night at State Farm Arena.
The Vipers (20-10) made three 3-pointers in the opening run, including two by Glen Rice Jr. and the other by Andrew Goudelock.
Maine (19-14) was held scoreless until James Mays put in a layup after 2:45. The closest the Red Claws were able to get was 19-10 on a jumper by Xavier Silas with 7:01 left in the opening quarter. However, Maine missed its next six field goal attempts and made just three free throws over the next five minutes while the Vipers hit on 7 of 11 shots during the stretch in building a commanding 36-13 lead.
The teams played fairly even the rest of the way but Maine did outscore Rio Grande Valley 43-33 in the fourth quarter.
The Vipers finished with 14 3-pointers — five apiece from Rice and Kyle Fogg, three by Goudelock and the other by Scott Machado.
In addition to its long-range shooting, Rio Grande Valley’s passing was a major factor in the win. The Vipers had 38 assists spread among 10 players with Terrence Jones leading the pack with seven.
Chris Wright had a strong game for the Red Claws with a team-leading 29 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Dajuan Summers had 24 points.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
