Wisconsin Herd falls in overtime to Grand Rapids 129-122

Elijah+Hughes

Jacob Link / the Advance-Titan — Wisconsin Herd’s Elijah Hughes goes in for a layup against the Motor City Cruise on Nov. 15.

Jacob Link, Co-Sports Editor

Forward AJ Green dropped 23 points, but the Wisconsin Herd fell to the Grand Rapids Gold 129-122 in overtime at the Van Andrel Arena last night.

The two teams were tied at 122 at the end of regulation before the Gold outscored the Herd 7-0 in the overtime period to come away with just their second win of the season. Wisconsin turned the ball over in two of their three possessions in overtime, allowing the Gold’s Jared Butler to nail the stepback three-pointer to reach the target score. The seven-point target score to decide overtime games is a new addition to the NBA G League this season.

The Herd went into the fourth quarter leading 94-88, but Grand Rapids cut the lead to just one point with under eight minutes to play. Butler and Wisconsin’s Sandro Mamukelashvili traded three-pointers to tie the game at 115 before the Herd found themselves on top with under a minute left following a Rob Edwards three-pointer. With under 30 seconds to play, Butler struck again with another step-back three as the game went into overtime.

After a back and forth first quarter, the Gold ended the first 12 minutes on a 7-2 run to take a 37-32 lead at the end of the period. Wisconsin took the lead late in the second quarter after Brandon Randolph converted his three-point play and Jontay Porter added a layup at the buzzer as the Herd took a 62-55 lead going into the break.

The Herd opened up a 12-point lead after halftime, but Butler and the Gold chipped away at the lead, cutting it to single-digits at the end of the third quarter.

Porter finished the game with a 10 point and 12 rebound double-double as the Herd finished the contest shooting 50% from the floor. Mamukelashvili added 20 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Edwards finished with 17 points.

For Grand Rapids, Adonis Arms finished with a game-high 30 points and added six rebounds while Butler finished with 27 points on 6-10 shooting from three-point land.

Wisconsin ended a two-game losing streak after taking down the Sioux Falls Skyforce 133-126 on Nov. 26 behind a 27-point performance from Mamukelashvili.

The Herd dropped two games to the Iowa Wolves 119-102 and 118-102, respectively, after taking down the Motor City Cruise on Nov. 17 and Nov. 15.

Tonight, Wisconsin will take on the Grand Rapids Gold at 6 p.m. at the Van Andel Arena.