Winning streak snapped!
The Dakota Wizards used a dominant fourth quarter to storm back from a seventeen-point deficit and defeat the Erie BayHawks 109-105 at the Tullio Arena on Saturday night.
The BayHawks entered the game as the league’s hottest team riding a five-game win streak. The two teams were knotted at 50 at halftime following a tight first half that was tied eight times and had eight lead changes.
The third quarter belonged to Erie as they took a thirteen point lead by outscoring Dakota 35-22 in the frame behind Blake Ahearn’s 11 points. Ahearn added the first four points of the fourth quarter with a free throw and three-pointer to give Erie their biggest lead of the game at 17.
But it was all Wizards the rest of way as they outscored the home team 32-14 in the final 10 minutes 35 seconds of the game behind Lester Hudson’s 14 points. The Memphis Grizzlies guard, playing on assignment, came off the bench to score a team-high 30 points in the game including 7 of Dakota’s final 11 points. He also grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds.
Corsley Edwards added 20 for Dakota as they improved to 25-19.
Erie was once again led by Ahearn as he matched his own franchise record high of 38 points, a mark he set in the team’s previous game against Utah. His hot offensive performance was highlighted by knocking down 7 of 11 three-point attempts and notching 25 second-half points.
Ivan Harris added 26 points for Erie as they dropped to 18-26.
The BayHawks and Wizards meet again Saturday night at the Tullio at 7 pm. It’s Toronto Raptors Affiliate night and “We Love Erie Day” with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free BayHawks/ Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation t-shirt.
Saturday’s game will also be aired nationally on the Versus Network on tape-delay at 11:30 pm ET. Versus can be found in the Erie area on the following cable providers: Time Warner Erie (city and county) and Corry, channel 323 (digital basic pkg); Time Warner Franklin, channel 150 (digital basic); Dish Network channel 151; DirecTV channel 603.
Tickets still remain for Saturday’s game and can be purchased by calling 452-4857 or at ticketmaster.com. |
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