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Gay leads Grizzlies past Wizards

Mar 19, 2012 - 2:42 AM Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Rudy Gay scored a season-high 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds Sunday to lead Memphis to a 97-92 victory over the Washington Wizards at FedEx Forum.

Mike Conley tallied 17 points and handed out six assists, while Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph grabbed nine boards apiece and scored 15 and 13, respectively, as the Grizzlies salvaged a 1-2 record on a three-game homestand.

"Our guys worked hard and picked up the defense and made the right plays down the stretch for us to get the win," remarked Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins after the game. "That's a tough team to play."

John Wall filled the stat sheet with 25 points, six assists and six rebounds, and Jordan Crawford added 22 points as Washington dropped to 1-4 on its current six-game road trip.

Wall converted a three-point play early in the third quarter to push Washington's lead to six, but a 13-4 by the Grizzlies gave them a 58-55 lead with 7:50 to play.

Trevor Booker capped an 8-2 run for Washington to take a 63-60 lead, but Gay scored the next seven for his team in a 14-3 run that found the home team on top 74-66 to start the fourth quarter.

Washington pulled even in the fourth when Maurice Evans' dunk made it 80-80, but Memphis scored eight of the next nine to take an 88-81 edge with 3:49 left to play.

Wall brought the Wizards within four on a layup with 46.6 seconds left, but Gay swished a triple from the left corner for the final dagger as the Grizzlies held on for the victory.

"We are getting better as a team," Wall said after the game. "We just have stretches in the third or fourth quarter. We try to go 1-on-1, and that hurts us."

Randolph tallied the last four points of the first quarter to help Memphis jump in front 21-20 at the end of one.

Washington utilized the long ball in the second, hitting five three-pointers, with the final one coming off the finger tips of Crawford with 1.9 ticks on the clock to give the Wizards a 48-45 edge heading into the locker room.

Game Notes

Memphis will begin a four-game road trip on Tuesday in Sacramento, while Washington wraps up its six-game road trip in New Jersey on Wednesday...O.J. Mayo scored 10 points for Memphis...Memphis went to the free throw line 37 times, connecting on 27, while Washington went 12-of-19 from the stripe.