EDINBURG — Darius Days led all scorers with 26 points, Jalen Lecque scored 20 and the RGV Vipers won their third straight game, 116-110, over Greensboro on Wednesday at Bert Ogden Arena.
The win is especially important, the game being the third of five straight against sub .500 opponents and the Vipers looking to get back in playoff position.
The win moved the Vipers into seventh place, tied with Ontario, with a 13-12 record. They are one game behind sixth-place Sioux Falls for the sixth and final playoff position.
“It was ugly,” Vipers head coach Kevin Burleson said. “I think Greensboro made it ugly, plus it’s always interesting when you have players coming down the day of (a game) and try to fit in with the group right away.”
The Houston Rockets, the NBA parent team of the Vipers, reassigned TyTy Washington to the Vipers this morning and the guard was in uniform and played 36 minutes. He scored 14 points, one of seven Vipers to reach double figures, but also turned the ball over a game-high seven times.
“He is such a talented player we were still trying to figure out how to play together at the beginning of the game,” Burleson said. “But we made the plays to win the game.”
In the past week, the Rockets have sent Washington, Days and Hudgins back to the Vipers. Nobody could say how long they could be with RGV, but their presence made a difference during the first three games of the sub-.500 games.
The Vipers turned the ball over 20 times, several coming down the stretch as they looked to put Greensboro away and the Swarm pressed them.
“That’s way too many turnovers. We just got sloppy with the ball at times,” Days said, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. “If we turn it over five or six times less then it’s a different ballgame.”
Jarrett Culver also collected a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Vipers return to action at 7 p.m. today at home against the Iowa Wolves for the first of two home contests. The second one will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.