After a hard-fought back and forth battle, the Grand Rapids Gold, the official NBA affiliate of the Denver Nuggets, ultimately fell to the Detroit Piston's Motor City Cruise, breaking the home team's three game winning streak. The matchup started as a seesaw battle with 14 lead changes and 5 ties. The tide turned in favor of the Cruise during a huge fourth quarter performance. The Cruise found their shooting rhythm and outscored the Gold 37-17. Despite the stat line being balanced in most categories, the Gold fell short in rebounding, grabbing 27 defensive boards compared to 50 for the Cruise. The Cruise crashed the boards on the offensive end too. 15 offensive rebounds resulted in 20 second-chance points for the away team. The Gold had only 8. Big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili had a game-high 22 points, on 9-11 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Lance Stephenson contributed a solid 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Matt Ryan added another 15 points to the mix with 2 rebounds. Davon Reed racked up a solid double-double with 14 points and 13 assists, as with 5 steals. Other Gold players in double figures were Trevon Duval (11 pts, 2 steals) and Nik Stauskas (10 pts, 5 rebounds and 4 assists). The matchup started as a seesaw battle with 14 lead changes and 5 ties. The tide turned in favor of the Cruise during a huge fourth quarter performance. The Cruise found their shooting rhythm and outscored the Gold 37-17. Despite the stat line being balanced in most categories, the Gold fell short in rebounding, grabbing 27 defensive boards compared to 50 for the Cruise. The Cruise crashed the boards on the offensive end too. 15 offensive rebounds resulted in 20 second-chance points for the away team. The Gold had only 8. Big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili had a game-high 22 points, on 9-11 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Lance Stephenson contributed a solid 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Matt Ryan added another 15 points to the mix with 2 rebounds. Davon Reed racked up a solid double-double with 14 points and 13 assists, as with 5 steals. Other Gold players in double figures were Trevon Duval (11 pts, 2 steals) and Nik Stauskas (10 pts, 5 rebounds and 4 assists). Grand Rapids Gold News Release
