Tulsa 101, Rio Grande Valley 95 (F)

HIDALGO, Texas, April 12 --The Rio Grande Valley Vipers showed some signs of rust in their final game after having sat for eleven days without playing. However, the Vipers, who played most of the game without injured guard Kris Collins, knocked the Tulsa 66ers out of the playoff race with their 101-95 victory in front of 5,009 fans at Dodge Arena. The Vipers closed out the season on a four game win streak with all four wins coming under Acting Head Coach Brian Walsh.

The Vipers played strong defense early as they held Tulsa to just 20 first quarter points and under 40% shooting. The Vipers outscored the 66ers 28-20 after one period. The Vipers struggled offensively in the second as they played without Collins who injured his hamstring in the early going and never saw the floor after exiting the game in the first.

The Vipers held off a late fourth quarter rally by Tulsa who pulled to within 97-95 with 35.8 seconds remaining on two Jason Fontenet free throws. The Vipers would not surrender another point as the closed he game on a four-to-nothing run.

Desmon Farmer finished with 27 points on 11-of-19 , and was an assist away from a double-double to lead the way for Rio Grande Valley. Stanley Asumnu tallied a double-double in his third straight game since entering the Vipers starting line-up. Quin Humphrey and Ivan Johnson each added 15. Trent Strickland scored 16 points of the bench and hauled in six boards for RGV.

Chris Ellis scored 12 of his 17 points in a tight fourth quarter to led six Tulsa double-digit scorers. Derrick Dial scored 15 and brought down eight rebounds and Scott Merritt scored 16 for Tulsa in the loss.