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Washington Leads Toros Over Skyforce
AUSTIN, TX – Darius Washington scored 32 points in his first game after being assigned to the Austin Toros and helped the team defeat the Sioux Falls Skyforce 114-109 on Friday afternoon at the Austin Convention Center. Austin rallied from as many as 16 points down in the third quarter to win their second game of the season and improve their record to 2-1.
Washington, a 6-2, 195 pound guard on assignment from the San Antonio Spurs, scored all but four of his 32 points in the second half. The Toros took the lead for the first time in the second half on a pair of free throws by newly acquired forward Marcus Williams with 3:42 left to play in the game.
“Darius really ignited us in the second half, I thought we just played a lot harder and had a lot of pride on the defensive end,” Toros head coach Quin Snyder said. “It’s hard for the whole team when we are trying to re-acclimate to new players and adjust roles.”
Beginning the second half with a 62-50 advantage, the Skyforce looked to be in control of the game after Nik Caner-Medley’s lay-up pushed the lead to 16 points. The Toros would end the quarter on a 34-19 run and Justin Bowen’s 3-point basket to end the quarter cut the Sioux Falls advantage to 87-86 going to the last quarter of play.
Along with being assigned Spurs guard Darius Washington, the Toros made several other roster moves before the game including acquiring forward Marcus Williams and forward DerMarr Johnson.
“I thought they both got more comfortable as the game when on - Marcus made some big plays in the second half and DerMarr made some shots early that kept us close,” Snyder said. “Our bench was great and were able to play and make a difference without getting big minutes.”
The Skyforce were led in scoring by Nic Caner-Medley, who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Antywane Robinson added 21 points and 10 rebounds and Damone Brown contributed 20 points for Sioux Falls, who fell to 0-2 on the season.
Other Toros in double figures included Keith Langford (19) and Kenton Paulino (11). The Toros play the second game of their weekend back-to-back when they face the Colorado 14ers tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center.
