WINDY CITY SETS NEW FRANCHISE-HIGH WITH FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN, BEAT GREENSBORO 105-99

[caption id="attachment_3071" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Photo by John L. Alexander/NBAE via Getty Images[/caption]

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL – The Windy City Bulls, presented by BMO Harris Bank, the NBA G League affiliate of the Chicago Bulls, set a new franchise-high and collected their fifth consecutive win in a 105-99 victory over the Greensboro Swarm on Friday night in North Carolina.

Five Windy City players including four of the five starters scored in double figures. Tyler Harris notched his sixth 20-point game and poured in a team-high 22 points, six rebounds and four steals. Ryan Arcidiacono and Jarell Eddie scored 14 points apiece and Arcidiacono dished out 13 assists for his tenth double-digit assist game of the season. CJ Fair scored has five rebounds and three steals to go along with his 16 points, while Will Davis scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 14 minutes of action.

Windy City raced out an early 5-0 lead after Harris and Arcidiacono scored back-to-back baskets to start the game. Greensboro promptly responded and used an 11-1 run to lead by five in the opening four minutes of the contest. Seven Windy City players cracked the scoring column with six of them registering a field-goal. After retaking the lead and having it trimmed to one, the Bulls rattled off seven consecutive points to lead by eight, which was the largest lead in the opening 12 minutes. Despite shooting 39 percent from the floor and allowing Greensboro to score the final four points of the period, Windy City maintained the lead and was on top by two heading into the second quarter.

Cat Barber led Greensboro in scoring and poured in a game-high 29 points off the bench. Damien Wilkins tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but accounted for ten turnovers in 26 minutes. Luke Petrasek scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Mangok Mathiang collected 11 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Paige, the Swarm’s second two-way player, scored 10 points and added four assists on 4-of-10 shooting.

After scoring the opening basket of the second quarter, Greensboro managed to grab their first lead of the night on a three-point basket by John Dawson. The Swarm nursed a marginal lead for half the period until the Bulls tied the game at 34 and regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Alex Hamilton. Both teams shot the ball better and posted shooting percentages of over 50 percent, but Windy City capitalized on seven Swarm turnovers, which allowed the Bulls to grab their first double-digit lead of the evening. However, it was Greensboro who closed the half strong, scoring 10 of the final 15 points in the quarter. With 1.9 seconds remaining before halftime, Barber knocked in two of his three free throw attempts, which made it a 56-54 game at the intermission.

The Swarm’s first basket of the second half was a three-pointer by Wilkins, which evened the score at 57 apiece. Following the bucket, Windy City used a 9-0 run to create separation and forced Greensboro into a timeout with 9:12 left to play in the third quarter. The Bulls took full control, creating their largest lead of 17 on a pair of made free throws by Jaylen Johnson. Harris had the hot hand coming out of halftime, scoring 11 points in the period while making five of his six field-goal attempts. After chopping six points of the leaf and whittling the lead to 11, Karrington Ward scored the final bucket of the stanza and his three-point bucket gave Windy City an 87-73 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

Five quick points by the Swarm cut the lead to single digits, but the Bulls managed to fend them off for the moment. After re-extending the lead to ten, Greensboro sliced the lead to four aided by an 8-0 run. Eventually, the Swarm made it a one possession game, but that is as close as they would get. Fair connected on consecutive baskets to stop the run and an Eddie three-point basket with under 30 seconds remaining sealed the Bulls second victory all-time against Greensboro.

With the win, Windy City now has a .500 winning percentage for the first time this season. The 99 points scored by Greensboro mark the first time in franchise history that the Bulls have held opponents to under 100 points in three consecutive games. Five of the final six games will be played at Sears Centre starting with a four-game winning streak on Sunday. Tip-off against the Lakeland Magic is 2:00 p.m. CT.

Fans can stay up-to-date on team news by following the team on Twitter (@WindyCityBulls) or visiting (WindyCityBulls.com). Full season membership, group, and single tickets for the 2017-18 Windy City Bulls season are on sale now. For all ticket information and full season schedule, visit WindyCityBulls.com.