George dunks a victory for Tulsa
February 11, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Tulsa 66ers News Release
TULSA, Okla. - It was Tulsa 66ers forward Otis George's dunk in overtime that gave the fans a sigh of relief at the Expo Square Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. The Ft. Worth Flyers, their first time on the 66ers home court, lost to Tulsa 102-99 in overtime.
George, who finished with eight points and a game high 11 rebounds, dunked the ball with 1:29 remaining in the overtime to cut the tie from 97 to 99-97.
The first quarter played out like a classic fight as both the 66ers and Flyers came at one another with their best shots.
It was a pair of guards that led the Tulsa attack. Tulsa guards Desmon Farmer and John Lucas III, who both finished with the team high 20 points, put up six and five points, respectively, in the first quarter. Ft. Worth's answer on offense was forward Rawle Marshall, finishing in-line with Farmer and Lucas for 20 points, who drained seven first-quarter points for the Flyers. However, the first round went to the 66ers because of the sparkling defensive performance of Tulsa center Cezary Trybanski. Trybanski sits tied for second in the D-League, averaging 1.8 bpg and only one blocked shot behind Albuquerque's Ken Johnson for the overall lead at 46. Trybanski blocked five first-quarter shots and Tulsa ended the quarter with a slim 25-23 lead.
Early in the second quarter, the second-place Flyers, who have won four of their last five games, tried to take control. Ft. Worth forward and Tulsa native, Kelenna Azubuike put up five quick points in the quarter as the Flyers claimed the biggest lead of the game at 33-27 midway through quarter two. Tulsa, who had a hard time getting to the line last night only making it there 13 times, used the charity stripe more today to fight back hitting 12-of-16 from the line. The half ended with Tulsa trailing Ft. Worth 49-45.
The pace seemed to quicken coming out of the locker room and the Flyers used a few Tulsa turnovers to turn that quickened pace into a 14-8 run and a ten-point lead of 63-53 with 7:15 remaining in the third. Ft. Worth looked to add a knockout blow to a struggling 66ers team that has won just two of their last five, but Tulsa was not ready to throw in the towel. By the end of the quarter, Tulsa guard Will Conroy's free throw sent the bout to the fourth quarter at 70-66 with Ft. Worth in the lead.
Having survived the knockout attempt by the Flyers, Tulsa was finally able to pull even as forward Ersan Ilyasova, who otherwise had a quiet night finishing with just four points and six rebounds, hit a jumper from the right baseline tying the game at 75 with 8:47 remaining. Tulsa was finally able to send the Flyers to the mat for the first time grabbing the lead on a Lucas layup with 5:33 left and the score at 81-80. Ft. Worth held on to the game with a layup from KU alum and Ft. Worth guard Aaron Miles, who finished with nine points, five assists and four rebounds. Miles tied the game up at 85 with 2:23 left in the regulation.
It looked for the world that Tulsa had finally thrown the knockout punch when Lucas converted two free throws with :08 remaining and pushed Tulsa to a three-point lead at 93-90, but just like any great battle there is always one more twist. The twist came out of the hands of another KU alum, Ft. Worth's Keith Langford with :07 seconds on the clock as he hit a three-pointer sending the two teams to overtime tied at 93.
It was the twin towers on both teams that were still standing in the overtime period and Tulsa's big guys, George and Trybanski just stood a little bit taller. George put back a dunk following a missed jumper by Farmer with 1:29 to go that put the nail in the coffin, giving Tulsa a 102-99 victory.
"I know that overtime was exciting for the great crowd that showed up today," said Tulsa 66ers head coach Joey Meyer. "But, us old men on the bench would have just of assumed to end it early. I'm proud of the guys. This gets us back in the win column and that was important."
The Tulsa 66ers will take on the Roanoke Dazzle this Wednesday, February 15. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Expo Square Pavilion.
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