D-Fenders Dominate Wizards

After a close and competitive first quarter, the D-Fenders outscored Dakota 31-12 in the second quarter to finish the first half with a 20 point lead. During the D-Fenders dominant quarter, Los Angeles guard Cecil Brown came off the bench to score 10 of his 17 points. Starting power forward Wendell White added a double-double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“We just didn’t defend very well, but give credit to the D-Fenders because they shot the ball very well,” said Wizards Head Coach Duane Ticknor. “They went on an early run and got the lead out to 20 and we just couldn’t make a serious threat after that.”

Los Angeles (11-4) not only finished the first half strong, but they closed the game out in convincing fashion. The D-Fenders scored 36 points in the final quarter to put the game away for good. Guard Devin Green led the team with 28 points, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 6 rebounds.

“As a team, we kept stressing our help defense throughout the week in practice. We got stops at the right times and we executed our offense,” said Green.

The D-Fenders displayed tenacious defense in the victory, forcing the Wizards to shoot 40.2% from the field and creating 20 Dakota turnovers. Los Angeles added 13 steals and 7 blocks in the contest.

“Our easy transition buckets were because of good defense. We picked up a lot of steals, a lot of long rebounds and we were gone with them,” said D-Fenders Head Coach Dan Panaggio. “It was a great team effort. We got contributions from everywhere.”

Guard Maurice Baker led the way for the Wizards, scoring 21 points and dishing out 12 assists. Leading D-League rebounder, Rod Benson, pulled down 12 boards on the night. Dakota dropped to 9-6 on the season.

Both Dakota and Los Angeles’ next games are in Anaheim. The Wizards will square off against the Arsenal Saturday night; the D-Fenders travel across town for a Southern California face-off next Friday.