Los Angeles 112, Albuquerque 107

EL SEGUNDO, CA, March 23 – Sean Banks scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Jelani McCoy posted 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles D-Fenders defeated the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, 112-107, on Sunday at Staples Center.

The win was the D-Fenders' first after losing two in a row, including a 16-point loss to the Thunderbirds on March 16.

The loss ended Albuquerque's winning streak at six games.

“I thought that we had a great team effort tonight.” said D-Fenders head coach Dan Panaggio. “After losing two straight games and losing some of our players, our guys were able to rally around each other and get the win. Jelani was huge tonight. He’s on top of his game right now and he’s really playing like an NBA player.”

Alando Tucker, on assignment from the Phoenix Suns, led six Thunderbirds players in double-figures with 26. Julius Hodge just missed out on a triple-double, notching 12 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists and Kevin Pittsnogle chipped in 22 points and 12 boards.

Wendell White contributed 19 points for the D-Fenders.

The game was tied at 82 at the start of the fourth quarter. With 6:26 remaining and the score still tied at 95, Los Angeles went 10-10 from the free throw line to seal the victory. 

“I’m the veteran of the team so I knew that I had to step up,” McCoy added.  “They cut into our lead a few times but when we set up our offense, we are hard to stop because so many people can score.”

 “They played very well;” said Thunderbirds head coach Jeff Ruland.  “We didn’t play well enough on the defensive end to get a win and every game is very precious for us, so it is very disappointing.”

The D-Fenders will host the Colorado14ers on Wednesday at the Staples Center.  Albuquerque will travel to Rio GrandeValley for a Friday night matchup with the Vipers.

On Sunday, the first 500 fans at the D-Fenders' game against the Iowa Energy will receive a coupon good for one free burrito courtesy of Chipotle Mexican Grill.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30pm.