(GREEN BAY PHOENIX) – Green Bay notched its second-straight win in thrilling fashion on Friday afternoon at the Kress Center, defeating Oakland in overtime, 84-81, behind a career-high 25 points from Josh Jefferson.
The Phoenix also notched its first win of the season at home and improved to 13-9 in the all-time series against the Golden Grizzlies.
Green Bay’s hopes of defending its home court were on the ropes with less than a minute left in overtime, but the Phoenix scored the final seven points of the game to storm back and secure the victory. The run started after Jefferson banged a triple off a kickout from a Paris Taylor offensive rebound.
Green Bay still faced a deficit, 81-80, and needed a stop with only eight seconds separating the game clock and shot clock. As time ticked under 20 seconds, Amari Davis was able to steal the ball from Oakland’s Jalen Moore and ended up drawing a foul – ultimately earning a trip to the free throw line.
Davis hit both shots from the charity stripe and garnered a one-point advantage for Green Bay with 11 seconds remaining in the game. The Golden Grizzlies put up an attempt from beyond the arc but missed as the ball went out of bounds.
The Phoenix was able to get the inbounds to Jefferson, who sealed the game with two more free throws and put an exclamation point on his career day. Green Bay’s victory came behind a season-high 22 assists and three double-digit scorers.
Jefferson’s career-high 25 points came on an extremely efficient 8-for-10 effort from the field paired with a 4-of-5 mark from long range. Davis added 18 points to Green Bay’s total and PJ Pipes chipped in 15 as both guards secured their ninth game in double figures this season.
Oakland held an edge in free throws and knocked down 19 of its 22 attempts, but Green Bay offset the advantage with quality shooting. The Phoenix shot 50.8% (31-61) from the floor and 43.5% (10-23) from three-point range.
