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Mayo guides Memphis past Milwaukee

Apr 1, 2012 - 5:26 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - O.J. Mayo scored 24 points off the bench and three Grizzlies recorded point-rebound double-doubles as Memphis knocked off Milwaukee, 99-95, on Saturday.

Rudy Gay scored 17 points and grabbed 10 boards, Marc Gasol had 13 and 15 and Marreese Speights posted 10 and 10 for the Grizzlies, who have won three of four.

Ersan Ilyasova tallied 20 points and 16 rebounds and Brandon Jennings netted 24 points for the Bucks, who have lost three of five.

Memphis moved to within a half-game of idle Dallas for the fifth playoff spot in the Western Conference, while Milwaukee dropped 2 1/2 games behind New York for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Quincy [Pondexter], Gilbert [Arenas], O.J. and Zach [Randolph] all came in and did yeoman's work. They were superb," said Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. "We had 51 points from our bench, so what more can you say?"

The Grizzlies led by at least eight throughout much of the fourth quarter and took their largest lead of the game at 95-82 on Gay's jumper with 3:29 remaining, but mental mistakes almost caused them to blow it late.

Monta Ellis answered Gay's basket with a layup 14 seconds later before Jennings and Ilyasova each drained a pair of free-throws. Jennings then made a layup with 57.9 seconds to play to bring the Bucks within five.

After Mayo missed, Ilyasova failed to connect on a three-pointer but was bailed out by a foul on Tony Allen. Ilyasova hit 2-of-3 from the line to make it a 95-92 margin with 16.5 ticks remaining.

The Bucks were forced to foul with 15.8 seconds on the clock and Mayo made both from the charity stripe, but the hosts again fouled a three-point shooter in the act, this time on Ekpe Udoh, who knocked down all three from the line to make it a two-point game at 97-95.

Mayo converted another pair from the line, though, and time ran out on the comeback attempt.

"You're typically not going to come back from 10 down with a minute and a half to go against a Western Conference playoff team," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles. "We're more concerned with, 'Why were we 10 down at that point?' than anything else."

Milwaukee led 51-47 at halftime behind 13 points from Jennings and 12 from Drew Gooden.

Game Notes

Both teams were without a starting forward. Milwaukee's Carlos Delfino missed his third straight with a groin injury. Dante Cunningham of Memphis rolled his ankle in Friday's loss to Houston...The Grizzlies' 11 points in the first quarter were the fewest allowed in an opening frame by the Bucks this season...Memphis won the rebounding battle 58-39.