Farmer's 49 helps Walsh, Vipers top Albuquerque

HIDALGO - Brian Walsh may be the Rio Grande Valley Vipers' acting head coach, but he's also a winning head coach after the Vipers held on for a thrilling 138-137 victory over Albuquerque on Friday night.

Desmon Farmer scored his NBA Development League career-high 49 points in the Vipers' first game after former coach Bob Hoffman resigned earlier this week to become the head men's basketball coach at Mercer University.

The Vipers (18-29) held off Albuquerque in part because of Farmer's unbelievable shooting performance in which he hit 18-of-26 from the field, including 8 for 12 marksmanship from behind the 3-point line.

"We're just playing and we just executed more than them," Farmer said. "I just play. I'm just out here playing every night and I just want to get a win."

Farmer also had nine rebounds and six assists, and point guard Kris Collins added 28 points and 10 assists starting once again for the banged-up Quannas White. But despite those gaudy numbers, it was a player who scored zero points that may have been the difference in winning.

With RGV clinging to a 136-134 lead with 7.1 seconds remaining, the Thunderbirds' Cheyne Gadson (27 points) missed a 15-foot jumper. But Vipers guard Craig Winder, who recently missed a series of games after having arthroscopic knee surgery, outhustled Albuquerque's Kevin Pittsnogle for the open-floor rebound, leading to a foul of Collins.

Collins hit both free throws for a four-point RGV lead, but Gadson answered with a 3 from the corner of the Vipers' bench to cut the deficit to one. Winder then threw his inbounds pass to a wide-open Stanley Asumnu, who dribbled out the remaining 2.7 seconds of Walsh's first win as Vipers head coach.

When Hoffman left the team, Walsh was tabbed the "acting" head coach by the Vipers' owners.

"It was fun. It was just a fun night and that's what the Valley is," Walsh said. "I'm telling you right now, there's not a lot of cities where you have a team that's not going to make the playoffs and you come out and you have excitement like this. An absolute fun night."

IN THE BONUS: Alando Tucker led Albuquerque (20-24) with 30 points. ... Ivan Johnson had 27 points off the bench for RGV. ... The teams play again at 7 p.m. today at Dodge Arena. Vipers forward Trent Strickland (leg) left the game in the third quarter and did not return.

Todd Mavreles covers the Vipers for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451. 

D-League box score

Friday's Game

VIPERS 138, THUNDERBIRDS 137

ALBUQUERQUE (137) - Conroy 5-12 2-3 13, Hodge 12-18 5-8 29, Dyer 3-6 0-1 6, Pittsnogle 6-10 0-0 16, Tucker 12-19 5-5 30, Gadson 8-14 9-10 27, Ham 4-8 2-3 10, Underwood 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 53-92 23-30 137.

RGV (138) - Collins 8-15 12-12 28, Farmer 18-26 5-5 49, Strickland 3-8 3-4 9, Smith 2-9 0-0 4, Humphrey 1-3 2-2 4, Johnson 11-16 4-5 27, Asumnu 7-7 1-2 15, Winder 0-4 0-0 0, White 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 51-89 27-30 138.

Albuquerque        33    37   27    40 - 137

RGV                      34    32   38    34 - 138

3-Pointers - Albuquerque 8-14 (Pittsnogle 4-6, Gadson 2-3, Conroy 1-4, Tucker 1-1), RGV 9-19 (Farmer 8-12, Johnson 1-2, Winder 0-3, Humphrey 0-1, Strickland 0-1). Fouled Out - None. Rebounds - Albuquerque 36 (Hodge 8), RGV 35 (Farmer 9). Assists - Albuquerque 25 (Conroy 12), RGV 26 (Collins 10). Total Fouls - Albuquerque 20, RGV 25. Technicals - Hodge, Albuquerque defensive three second, Ham. A - 3,515 (5,622).