The Nevada Desert Dogs continued their rise up the North American Premier Basketball League sweeping the Vancouver Knights 123-118 and 120-104 over the March 17-18 weekend.

The wins brought the Desert Dogs season record to 7-9. The Dogs started league play 0-4 and since revamping their starting line- up have gone 7-5, playing competitive in all 12 games.

Despite sitting in sixth place, the Dogs are only three games behind in the loss column to league-leading Albany Patroons. The Bulldogs can make a statement March 25, when they travel to Yakima to face the Sun Kings, who sit in second place with a 14-7 record and the Ohio Cardinals on March 27 who are in third place, with a 12-10 record.

The Dogs come home on March 30 and 31 to face the Kentucky Thoroughbreds, who are one game up on the Dogs. The Kentucky squad was blown out recently by the Ohio Cardinals 133-113.

The Thoroughbreds are led by Corey Wilford, a recent player of the week. If the Dogs can go 3-1 in these games they can take over fourth place in the league standings and control their own destiny for the final spot in the league playoffs.

On a side note for Desert Dog fans, league headquarters announced that Desert Dog Jelan Kendrick is giving back “for living his dream.” Kendrick, a former UNLV standout, announced he is giving his first check as gratitude to a non-profit, for helping me, “live my dreams” playing basketball in Nevada.

Kendrick has become a leader of the Dogs since joining Nevada in mid-January.