EDINBERG, Texas— Lester Quiñones led the way for the Santa Cruz Warriors with 23 points in a 126-119 win against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at Bert Ogden Arena on Tuesday evening.
The Golden State Warriors two-way guard also added five rebounds and five assists for the Sea Dubs, who have won five straight and remain in playoff contention.
Santa Cruz guard Jerome Robinson wasn’t far behind with 21 points and five assists, while fellow teammates Dusty Hannahs and Eli Pemberton each contributed 17 points.
Vipers guard TyTy Washington–who is on assignment from the Houston Rockets–finished with a game-high 33 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
Two-way forward Darius Days secured a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and guard Trhae Mitchell added 16 points for RGV.
The Warriors took a slim lead to close out the opening quarter with a 32-29 advantage over the Vipers.
Santa Cruz held the lead throughout the second quarter but RGV’s offense fought back to take a 63-61 lead going into halftime.
Both teams went back and forth in the third stanza, yet it was Quiñones’ 10 points that gave the Warriors an 85-82 lead heading into the final frame.
Santa Cruz continued to ride the momentum wave and built a 12-point advantage en route to a 126-119 victory over the Vipers.
On Tuesday, Quiñones earned his second NBA G League Player of the Week award for this season. He was recognized by the league for games played from March 13-19.
The 6-foot-4 guard put up a season-best 46 points and made 66.7% of his shot attempts (12-of-18) against Salt Lake City on March 15.
Quiñones posted 30.3 points per game and he made 45.6% of his shot attempts (26-of-57) during that span, while making 32.3% of his three point shot attempts (10-of-31).
He also had an average of 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 31.0 minutes played per game, helping Santa Cruz to a 3-0 record that week.
Quiñones has an average of 21.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 32.1 minutes per game in 28 games started this season.
The award marks the 18th time in franchise history a player has been named Player of the Week since the NBA G League began giving the award out in 2006.
Santa Cruz (17-13) will have a rematch with the Vipers (16-14) on Thursday at 5pm.
