NAZ Suns rally late, but fall to Legends 117-113

NBA G League

PRESCOTT VALLEY — Jared Harper scored 27 points, Tariq Owens had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds but the Northern Arizona Suns committed 19 turnovers and surrendered 19 offensive rebounds in a 117-113 loss to Texas on Wednesday night.

The Suns (0-2), which lost their first two games of the season for the first time in club history, shot better percentages across the board but the Legends took 18 more shots and won by four.

“Tonight, they got to the 50-50 balls. They had 19 offensive rebounds so they beat us up on the glass,” Owens said in the locker room after the loss. “It’s a group effort, we all have to box out, hit the glass hard.”

Second-year coach Bret Burchard said he wasn’t pleased with the effort overall, and losing the battle in the 50-50 balls category hurt.

“It’s turnovers, it’s offensive rebounds, it’s loose balls. … They [Texas] played really hard and I don’t know if we matched their intensity,” Burchard said. “For the most part, they were the more aggressive team the whole night.”

Harper, who was 9 of 18 from the field, including four 3-pointers, had five of the club’s 19 turnovers. The Auburn product said the team must get better “defensively as a team” and rebounding.

“We have to do a better job rebounding, if we do a better job rebounding in that game, I think it would be a totally different situation,” Harper said. “It’s something for us to focus on and work on.”

Texas guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes led all scorers with 31 points on 14 of 25 shooting from the field and had seven assists. He said the Legends (1-2) did a nice job in transition Wednesday night in Prescott Valley.

“We are a great transition team so when we can get stops and get out and run, we’re really good,” the former Florida State standout said, adding he should have done better job as a leader late in the game.

Northern Arizona trailed 109-97 with 4:38 left but an 11-0 run capped by a Harper 3-pointer cut the Legends’ lead to one at 109-108 with 1:15 to go.

“I think we should have done a better job late in the game, and that’s on me as the point guard,” Rathan-Mayes said. “I have to manage my team and get us in and out of sets and use time management.”

Rathan-Mayes knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 111-108 and Texas was able to hold on for the win.

ARIZONA RETURN

Making his return to the desert, former Arizona State standout Tra Holder was in uniform for Texas on Wednesday night.

Holder recorded 35 career 20-point games for the Sun Devils and is fifth all-time in career scoring with 1,797 points (2014-18), only 247 behind ASU all-time leader Eddie House.

He did not play, however.

EXPERIMENT

The NBA G League is introducing a new single-shot free throw rule this season, giving players one shot for two points when fouled shooting a two, and one shot for three points when fouled shooting a three.

This represents an attempt to cut down on game length. Contests will revert to traditional free throw scoring for the final 2 minutes of the game and overtime.

INJURY REPORT

Aaron Epps missed his second straight game with right plantar fascia. David Kramer was also out as he tends to a left tibia injury. There is no timetable for either player’s return.

UP NEXT

The Suns wrap up their three-game homestand to start the 2019-20 season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Sunday, Nov. 17.

The Vipers (1-2) play Salt Lake City on Friday before heading to Prescott Valley on Sunday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. is news/sports editor for The Daily Courier of the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud at @TheEditorDesk. Email him at bbergner@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.