Wolves Cap Iowa State Fair Day with Exciting Win over Memphis

DES MOINES, Iowa – Bettendorf native D.J. Carton’s highlight and-one dunk with 15 seconds left helped the Iowa Wolves hand the Memphis Hustle its first loss of the NBA G League regular season on Sunday afternoon. Iowa (2-6) edged Memphis (6-1), 110-107, in front of a season-high 6,516 fans inside Wells Fargo Arena.

Carton finished with a game-high 30 points, his fifth 30+ scoring performance in the past 10 games for the Wolves. Carton added a game-best 11 assists for another points/assists double-double. Dakota Mathias led the Hustle with 23 points. 

Mathias’ deep three-pointer with 2:20 left in the game put Memphis up by five points, 103-98. Josh Minott, who scored 24 points off the bench, followed with his own three. Kenneth Lofton Jr. followed with a putback that pushed the Hustle’s lead back to four. 

In Iowa’s next possession, newcomer Jared Wilson-Frame missed a three that was rebounded by Memphis. The Hustle had two three-point tries miss that could have helped put the game away but another newcomer for the Wolves, Jordy Tshimanga, snagged the rebound after the second miss.

Matt Lewis then got a friendly bounce on his three that fell to the bottom of the net with 29 seconds to go. Minott quickly fouled Jacob Gillyard, who made both free throws to give Memphis a three-point lead, 107-104. After a timeout, Memphis fouled Carton, who made the first free throw and missed the second, but Minott pulled down the critical rebound that set up Carton’s electric dunk through the lane. He calmly knocked down the free throw to put Iowa up by one point, 108-107, with 15 seconds left.

Iowa then forced a missed layup by Lofton Jr. that was rebounded by Minott, who was fouled and buried both free throws to increase the Wolves’ lead to 110-107 with just 1.7 seconds left.

Memphis had a final chance to tie it but Mathias’ three was off the mark as the clock expired as the Wolves snapped their five-game losing streak.

Jordan Bohannon continued his strong play with 16 points and six rebounds in his second-straight career start. 

Iowa will enjoy a break before returning to the court next Sunday, Jan. 22 at the Westchester Knicks a 12 p.m. CT.