RENO - Despite a dominant 20-20 effort inside from Rod Benson, shooting struggles sent the Reno Bighorns to a 110-94 loss to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the first round of the NBA D-League playoffs Saturday afternoon in the Reno Events Center.
With the win, Rio Grande Valley takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three opening round.
The Bighorns finished the day shooting 13.8 percent (4-for-29) from three-point range and 67.9 percent (36-for-53) from the foul line. Reno turned the basketball over 24 times.
The loss spoils a career-day for Benson, who recorded 22 points, 20 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Tip-time for Monday's game two is set for 6 p.m. The game can be seen live on VERSUS.