Dec 22, 2008 - 04:05:27 CST
After Maurice Baker hit a pair of free throws with 31 seconds to play in Sunday's 111-101 victory over the Reno Bighorns - passing Kevin Rice as the Dakota Wizards' all-time leading scorer - Baker went to the bench and embraced the man whose record he broke.Rice, now an assistant coach with the Wizards, leaned in and gave Baker his congratulations - and a playful jab.
"He said he did it in four years and I needed five," Baker recalled with a laugh, pointing out that it actually took him fewer games. "... I had to set him straight."
Baker, who has played parts of five seasons with the Wizards, including on the 2006-07 D-League champs, said he's proud of the record.
"It means a lot to me,"Baker said. "It means I came out and worked hard and did the things I'm supposed to do."
Wizards coach Duane Ticknor was happy for Baker.
"He's just such a great guy," Ticknor said. "Whether he scored a point or not, he's the leader of this basketball team, and I'm happy for him, and I'm proud of him."
Baker had 19 points on the night, giving him 2,071 for his career, two more than Rice. But it appeared that the two would end the night dead even - and they probably should have.
After leading by double-digit margins virtually the entire night, Dakota's starters hit the bench midway through the fourth quarter with the Wizards up 101-80.
"We had it under control," said Blake Ahearn, who had 33 points and eight assists in his return to the Wizards. "They're a team that plays fast, and if they start hitting shots, they can score pretty quick."
And the Bighorns did just that. Reno has lost seven straight, and for the most of the night looked like it. But all it took was a little bit of hot shooting from reserves Jamaal Thomas and Russell Robinson to bring the Bighorns back to life.
Reno went on a 16-0 tear against Dakota's reserves, Thomas scoring eight of those points and Robinson six. When Renaldo Major finally snapped the streak with a pair of free throws, Robinson sank another 3-pointer, cutting the margin to 103-99 with 3:03 still remaining.
"I'm really disappointed in our bench play tonight, even though a couple of guys put some numbers up,"Ticknor said. ... Our bench has been playing so well. Hopefully they'll bounce back and learn a lesson from tonight that you've got to be ready to play."
The Wizards starters came back in and were able to close the game out, even though Dakota didn't make any field goals over the final 7:23.
The Wizards did clamp down defensively, not allowing any points until four three throws from Ahearn and the two by Baker had put the game out of reach.
"We've got to learn that we can't get relaxed like that," Baker said.
Upon his return to Bismarck, Ahearn picked up right where he left off. Last year's D-League rookie of the year made a cameo at the Civic Center in October, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA preseason game against Denver.
Although he played less than five minutes for the Timberwolves that night, Ahearn hit the clutch 3-pointer to lead his team to victory. Ahearn showed on Sunday that he hasn't lost his touch, going 10-for-16 from the floor and 6-for-10 from beyond the arc.
"I played a little more than I did when I was with Minnesota," Ahearn said with a grin. "To get out there and play in front of these fans, whenever I'm here, I'm going to get out and do what Ican."
Ahearn helped the Wizards take control early in the first quarter, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 9-0 run that gave Dakota a 19-7 edge.
"He can just spread the floor, and guys look for him - sometimes they look for him too much,"Ticknor said. "His presence on the floor makes everybody else confident."
The game was pretty much a rout from then on, until Reno's late run threw a scare into Dakota.
The Wizards (5-5) have now won four in a row.
"It wasn't the way we wanted to win, but we'll take it," Ahearn said.
Reno 17 44 66 101
Wizards 29 57 84 111
RENO (101):Antonio Meeking 5-20 6-8 17, Damone Brown 7-15 2-2 19, Jesse Smith 0-4 4-4 4, Dave Noel 4-11 0-0 9, DarylDorsey 3-9 6-6 12, Patrick Ewing 0-6 0-0 0, Russell Robinson 6-9 0-0 15, Garry Hill-Thomas 5-6 1-1 1, Andre Patterson 0-0 0-0 0, Jamaal Thomas 5-5 3-4 14. Totals 35-85 22-25 101.
WIZARDS(111):Renaldo Major 1-6 4-4 6, Will Frisby 7-11 1-2 15, Hamed Haddadi 3-7 0-0 6, Blake Ahearn 10-16 7-7 33, Maurice Baker 6-14 5-6 19, David Bell 3-6 2-2 10, Quemont Greer 3-7 4-4 11, Brad Stricker 2-2 3-5 7, Carlos English 0-3 0-0 0, Jawaan McClellan 1-1 0-0 2, Marcus Hubbard 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-76 26-30 111.
3-pointers: R 9-19(Brown 3-5, Robinson 3-5, Thomas 1-1, Meeking 1-3, Noel 1-5), W 11-25 (Ahearn 6-10, Baker 2-5, Bell 2-5, Greer 1-1, English 0-1, McClellan 0-1, Major 0-2). Rebounds:R 39 (Meeking 12), W 45 (Major 12, Baker 11). Assists: R 15 (Dorsey 5), W 27 (Ahearn 8). Fouls:R 21, W 25. Technical fouls:R 1 - Dorsey. Steals:R 14 (Robinson 5), W 9 (Major 3). Turnovers:R 22, W 26. Blocked shots:W 5 (Frisby 3).
A:1,969.
Records:R 1-8; W 5-5.
Wizards note
Tonight's game against Los Angeles will be Hamed Haddadi's last with the Wizards for now. The 7-2 center will go back to the Memphis Grizzlies, but may return to the Wizards in January.
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