Wisconsin Herd complete impressive comeback to beat Raptors 905

Having trailed by as much as 19 midway through the third quarter, the Wisconsin Herd compiled yet another impressive comeback to take down the Raptors 905.

The Wisconsin Herd conjured up an incredible second half comeback to sneak past the Raptors 905 in a 115-109 victory Friday night at Menominee Nation Arena.

While the Herd got a reinforcement with the assignment of Milwaukee Bucks big man Dragan Bender, they were missing crucial ball handlers such as two-way player Frank Mason III and Jaylen Adams, who were both sidelined due to injury.

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The absences of both Adams and Mason III were very apparent early on as the Herd’s offense was bogged down with plenty of sloppiness and rough execution.

Fortunately, the same could be said for the Raptors 905 and the first quarter was a rather rough watch with the 905 taking a 22-21 edge at the end of one.

Things didn’t let up for the Herd throughout the second quarter as they continued to pile up the turnovers and started to slip in terms of getting back on defense, all of which led to easy scores for a shorthanded 905 squad. All of that led to the Herd amassing as many turnovers (17) as they had made field goals (17) in the first half and the 905 entered halftime with a 51-43 edge.

It looked as if the 905 were ready to fully separate from the Herd once play resumed in the second half and it was the masterwork of 905 athletic big man/forward Devin Robinson who did plenty of damage on the rims inside Menominee Nation Arena (Robinson finished with a game-high 40 points on 23 shots).

After the 905 led by as much as 19 at the 5:48 mark in the third quarter, the Herd laid the groundwork to their second half comeback as they cut their double-digit deficit down to 9 through three to trail 86-77.

With Herd head coach Chase Buford opting to play small and switch everything defensively, the Herd fully came alive throughout the fourth quarter to eventually knot things up at 96 with 6:28 remaining in the frame, thanks to a triple from D.J. Hogg. The 905 briefly battled back, causing the lead to bounce back between the Herd and the 905 as the quarter wore on.

But a pair of crucial buckets from two-way player Cam Reynolds around the two-minute mark proved to be the difference the Herd needed to separate themselves from the 905 to secure their third straight victory.

Moving on to individual performances, the Herd were led by Reynolds as the two-way player finished with 27 points on 21 shots (5-of-10 shooting from downtown), four rebounds, four turnovers and two assists. Reynolds’ sharpshooting nearly supplied half of the Herd’s 12 total triples for the night and four of the 24-year-old’s treys came during the second half and it all led to his best performance of the young G League season.

The same arguably could be said for Bucks assignee Dragan Bender, who put up 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field (2-for-4 from long range, 4-for-5 from the foul line), 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks as well as two turnovers and was a +7 in just over 35 minutes of action.

The 21-year-old showed off his wide-ranging services between his ability to score out of the post, put the ball down on the floor for slashes to the basket, and he kept plays alive numerous times to put down second chance buckets. And his defensive play stood out as well as Bender turned to his verticality to protect the rim from the 905.

Jemerrio Jones stood as an incredibly valuable cog within the Herd’s second half turnaround, which all started with his ability to clean up on the glass as he pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds. Jones’ play to start the fourth quarter really kicked on Wisconsin’s comeback push as he went coast-to-coast for strong finishes at the basket and maneuvered past the 905’s swarming defensive unit.

And after compiling 17 turnovers in the first half, the Herd really cleaned up their sloppy mishandling of the ball offensively as they finished with 24 total turnovers for the game overall.

The Herd will look for a potential fourth straight victory when they travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Capital City Go-Go Sunday afternoon for a 2pm CT showdown.