Nevada Appeal Staff Report
The Reno Bighorns saw their six-game winning streak came to halt as the Idaho Stampede, led by former Boise State star Coby Karl, took a 98-97 victory at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho.
Karl scored a team-high 21 points and added seven assists for the first-place and defending D-League champion Stampede.
Idaho, which remained unbeaten at home with the win, is now 15-5, while the Bighorns fell to 7-13.
Stampede forward Jason Ellis scored all eight of his points in the first quarter, helping the Stampede gain a 28-18 advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Stampede continued on the attack in the second, going on a 9-0 run at the beginning of the quarter to giving it a 37-20 lead, their largest of the game.
Reno answered back with a 10-0 run of its own to go into halftime trailing 50-42.
Reno continued to chip away at the Stampede lead in the third quarter, led by Donte Green, on NBA assignment from the Sacramento Kings.
Green scored nine of his 16 points in the quarter.
The Bighorns were able to bring the deficit to one point in the fourth quarter, on a Patrick Ewing slam dunk with 2:33 remaining in the game, capping a 7-2 run.
Former Nevada Wolf Pack star Gerry Hill-Thomas brought the game within one point again with 32 seconds left, but the Bighorns were unable to get a shot off on their final possession of the game.
Thomas had five points. Antonio Meeking led the Bighorns with 19, followed by Russell Robinson with 18.
"I am really happy with the win and encouraged with Dwayne Jones' great minutes played," Stampede head coach Bryan Gates said. "We couldn't have done it without Luke (Jackson) and Coby making great plays and (Brent Petway's) strong defensive play."
Gates is a two-time NBA D-League Coach of the Year.
Idaho travels to Bakersfield on Sunday to take on the Jam, while Reno heads home to go up against the Utah Flash at the Reno Events Center.
The Bighorns-Flash tip-off is 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Third-place Utah is currently 10-7 and is 8-2 in its last 10 games.