EDINBURG — The RGV Vipers remained explosively hot Thursday, once again scoring 30 or more points during the first three quarters en route to a 126-111 victory over the Santa Cruz Warriors at Bert Ogden Arena.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Vipers (6-3), all coming at home. RGV closes its six-game home stand at 7:30 Saturday night against Birmingham. It was the Vipers’ second straight win over the visiting Warriors, beating them 134-110 on Tuesday.
The Vipers trailed 40-32 about a third of the way through the second quarter but erupted for a 34-13 run during the final eight minutes to grab a 66-53 lead at the half. Vipers guard Trevlin Queen nailed a long 3-pointer to end the half and complete that high-flying scoring run. Santa Cruz led after one period 37-30 but could only muster 16 points in the second.
Queen had another big night, scoring 30 points while adding two assists, two steals and four rebounds. Queen leads the NBA G League in steals. Daishen Nix continued to play big as well for RGV, earning a double-double with 22 points and 12 assists, to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Anthony Lamb also tallied a double-double with 10 points and a team high 12 rebounds. Trhae Mitchell followed suit with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Vipers have been on fire since returning home. They’ve won by 12, 37, 24, 24 and 15 points during their first five games of the home stand, respectively. They are averaging 129.6 points per game during the home stand, above their 125 points per game for the season. Santa Cruz (4-6) came in as the second-highest scoring team in the league.
A big part of the second-quarter surge was the offensive rebounding and second-chance points for the Vipers. They pulled down 51 rebounds, 25 coming on the offensive glass.
Following the home stand, the Vipers will play eight straight road games and won’t return to Bert Ogden Arena until Feb. 25 against the Oklahoma City Blue.
Quinndary Weatherspoon paced Santa Cruz with 26 points. Teammate Jacob Evans grabbed 13 rebounds.
