Grizz Gaming wins group 5 to advance to quarterfinals of THE TIPOFF

Team Hosts Best-of-Three Series with T-Wolves Gaming Tonight at 8 p.m. CT

Memphis, Tenn. — Grizz Gaming posted a 3-1 group play record in THE TIPOFF powered by AT&T, the first of three in-season NBA 2K League tournaments, Friday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the event. The team split two games with Hawks Talon GC before winning both games against Raptors Uprising GC. It marks the second time in Grizz Gaming history the team has advanced in tournament play.

Grizz Gaming will take part in the quarterfinal round on Saturday night, hosting a best-of-three series with T-Wolves Gaming beginning at 8 p.m. CT. All tournament games will air live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels. To view the Grizz Gaming game exclusively, enter the ‘Command Center’ on the league’s Twitch channel. The semifinals and finals will take play on Sunday, May 23, with the winning team taking home a championship banner and $70,000 from the prize pool.

Grizz Gaming trailed Hawks Talon GC 38-28 at halftime of Game 1 after a slow start offensively. The Grizz cut the lead to just four points heading into the fourth quarter, at 55-51, but they were unable to overcome a slow first half on the offensive end. Hawks Talon out-shot Grizz Gaming 68.6 percent to 59.2 percent and out-rebounded the Grizz 22-14 in Game 1. Ceez (Ceez Martinez) led all scorers with 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting in Game 1. Despite the loss, Vandi (Zach Vandivier) posted a double-double for Grizz Gaming with 24 points and 11 assists.

Memphis’ team found their groove on the offensive end in Game 2 against the Hawks’ club. Grizz Gaming put up 48 points in the first half while holding Hawks Talon to just 29 points. Both teams traded baskets in the third quarter before Grizz Gaming capped-off the win with a 30-point fourth quarter, led by Vandi’s 10 points in the final six minutes. AuthenticAfrican (Mehyar Ahmed-Hassan) posted a game-high 17 rebounds while shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to finish with eight points. Chess (Kory Taylor) totaled 26 points, three assists and two rebounds on 10-of-13 shooting. Grizz Gaming out-assisted Hawks Talon 25-12, led by Vandi’s 13 assists in his second double-double of the night.

In Game 1 against Raptors Uprising, Grizz Gaming fell behind 24-17 early on before out-scoring the Raptors’ squad 22-13 in the second quarter, leading to a 39-37 halftime advantage. Game 1 came down to the wire as reigning-MVP Kenny Got Work (Kenneth Hailey) connected on a 3-pointer with 57.5 seconds remaining to give Raptors Uprising a 72-71 lead. However, AuthenticAfrican got loose under the basket and slammed home the game-winning dunk to seal the 73-72 victory with 49.4 seconds remaining. Vandi finished with a game-high 40 points (15-26 FG, 8-15 3P), six assists and one steal. Kenny Got Work posted a double-double with 32 points and 11 assists for Raptors Uprising in the loss.

Grizz Gaming put together a dominant second half of Game 2, out-scoring Raptors Uprising 43-23 in the final 12 minutes of play. Vandi outscored the Raptors’ squad by himself 10-9 in the fourth quarter as the Grizz cruised to an 81-61 victory. Vandi posted his third double-double in four games with a season-high 43 points (17-25 FG, 6-10 3P) and 11 assists. AuthenticAfrican posted a double-double with 12 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. Type (Xavier Vesocvi) posted a double-double for Raptors Uprising with 20 points and 10 rebounds.