Austin defeats 66ers again

[biba]

Austin defeats 66ers again

By GLENN HIBDON World Sports Writer 12/31/2007
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/art..._B3_hDesp48617

Despite playing well, Tulsa drops its fifth straight.

Sometimes eight is more than 12.

With a short bench following the call-up of forward DerMarr Johnson to the San Antonio Spurs, Austin was down to just eight players on Sunday against the Tulsa 66ers. It didn't matter to coach Quin Snyder or his Toros.

Guard Justin Bowen and big man Ian Mahinmi warmed to the occasion and paced Austin to a 103-98 NBA Development League victory over the Sixers at Expo Square Pavilion. The defeat was Tulsa's fifth straight and third in a row to the Toros since Thursday.

Center Nick Fazekas topped Tulsa with a career-high 31 points, but the two-pronged attack of Austin's Bowen (25 points) and Mahinmi (22) proved lethal.

"They had three big shots at the end of the shot clock down the stretch," said Tulsa coach Joey Meyer. "This was a better effort for us and I thought we played well enough to win, but they hit the shots. We played a lot of guys a lot of minutes and it's frustrating. We played better, but obviously we've got to play better than this."

Meyer sent 11 of his 12 players into action with Glen McGowan collecting 17 points and 12 rebounds and guard Ramon Sessions 16 points with 18 assists. The Sixers outrebounded Austin 44-29 and shot a respectable 48 percent, but the Toros hit 53.6 percent and made all the important plays near the end.

"Our guys made me not worry," said Snyder. "They played hard and unbelievably together. Cheyne (former Oklahoma State star Cheyne Gadson) dislocated his finger, but plugged it back in. We had a lot of adversity throughout the game and at the end we made a couple of plays that weren't real smart. But the guys responded and put in a terrific effort."

When it counted most, the Toros made the right decisions. Bowen waited until the end of the shot clock to nail a trey and give Austin a 99-94 lead with 1:30 left. Mahinmi executed a similar move with a two-point hoop at the one-minute mark and it was 101-94. Guard Cardell Johnson sank a leaner in the lane with 12 seconds remaining to close scoring, then stole Tulsa's inbounds pass.

Austin scored 48 points in the paint and used a 12-4 run at the end of the third period to take control. The Toros twice built 10-point leads before the 66ers rallied, coming within 96-94 on Fazekas' drive at 1:53. Bowen answered with his trey and the outcome was decided.


Toros 103, 66ers 98

Austin

Min FG 3pt FT Reb.O-T F Pt.
Johnson 45 6-11 0-2 1-2 0-4 3 13
Bowen 38 10-16 2-3 3-4 2-5 5 25
Pittsnogle16 1-5 0-3 2-2 0-4 2 4
Paulino 31 3-7 2-3 3-3 0-0 3 11
Mahinmi 38 7-12 0-0 8-10 0-6 5 22
Gadson 28 5-11 1-2 3-3 0-1 1 14
Fuqua 14 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 4
TOTAL 37-69 5-13 24-31 2-29 24 103


Assists: Johnson 8, Bowen 4, Mahinmi 4, Gadson 2, Fuqua 1. Blocks: Bowen 1, Mahinmi 1. Turnovers: Gadson 4, Mahinmi 3, Johnson 2, Pittsnogle 1, Paulino 1, Fuqua 1. Steals: Johnson 6, Mahinmi 2, Bowen 1, Paulino 1 . Technical fouls: None

Tulsa

Min FG 3pt FT Reb. O-T F Pt.
Sessions 42 4-10 0-0 8-12 1-4 2 16
Kelly 17 2-2 1-1 0-0 0-1 3 5
Harrington 20 3-10 3-5 0-0 0-3 1 9
McGowan 33 6-12 0-0 5-7 5-12 2 17
Ellis 18 1-3 0-0 0-0 3-8 3 2
Fazekas 34 15-21 0-0 1-2 1-6 3 31
Hall 31 5-9 3-6 1-2 2-5 2 14
Ager 30 0-7 0-4 2-2 0-4 1 2
Closs 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 2 0
Fontenet 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-3 1 0
Merritt 4 0-1 0-0 2-4 1-1 3 2
TOTAL 36-75 7-16 19-29 13-44 23 98


Assists: Sessions 18, Fontenet 3, Hall 2, Kelly 1, McGowan 1, Fazekas 1, Closs 1. Blocks: Sessions 1, Closs 1. Turnovers: Sessions 4, McGowan 4, Harrington 3, Kelly 1, Closs 1, Fontenet 1, Merritt 1. Steals: Sessions 2, Kelly 1, Harrington 1, Ellis 1, Ager 1. Technical fouls: None

Austin 25 28 26 24 103
Tulsa 23 31 17 27 98

[Bruno]

Even if he isn't in the boxscore, Kris Lang played in this game and finished with 10 points and 8 boards.
As someone who barely knows the D-League, I find this win very impressive. Toros were on the road, against a very talented team and with only 4 players that aren't big names (Johnson, Paulino, Gadson and Bowen) to play PG/SG/SF.

Toros have 2 roster spots open after that Spurs tried half of their team. Justin Reed seems to have signed with them and the second one could go to Marcus Williams. Toros will have a nice team.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

Wow Ian impressed once again? Maybe I not reading the stats right but how many PF did he finish with?

[ChumpDumper]

5

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/200.../boxscore.html

[E20]

14ers, 66ers...........

Those are some ty ass names. Hire me and I will give you dumb ass ball clubs better name ideas.

[ChumpDumper]

E20ers

[Mr. Body]

14ers, 66ers...........

Those are some ty ass names. Hire me and I will give you dumb ass ball clubs better name ideas.

Like E20? That's a winner.

[E20]

Like E20? That's a winner.

Like Mr. Body? That's a winner.

[Mr. Body]

Like Mr. Body? That's a winner.

I'm not offering to rename teams with perfectly fine names. Or would you prefer the sHoCKerzZz or some -ass XFL team name? How is 66ers or 14ers any better or worse than 76ers? Perhaps you could find out why their named those things?

[some_user86]

Actually, given the locations, those aren't bad names [66ers = famous route 66; 14ers = refers to fourteener peaks, which are peaks greater than 14,000 ft (apparently really important to Colorado, which has majority of these peaks)]. Gotta look at those name in context. Toros is lamer than the above, which have actual significance for their areas.

[E20]

I'm not offering to rename teams with perfectly fine names. Or would you prefer the sHoCKerzZz or some -ass XFL team name? How is 66ers or 14ers any better or worse than 76ers? Perhaps you could find out why their named those things?

It makes sense for 76ers in Phildelphia. That's where the consitution was established in 1776 and in 1776, is when USA declared themselves independent and a soverigen state so 76ers makes perfect sense for Philly. Same with the Lakers, although now it doesn't, but when the Lakers were in Minn. it made sense. 14ers and 66ers seem lame rip who couldn't think of anything else. Some_user86 brings a valid take, but naming the teams after things(a route or some mountains) is lame.

[ChumpDumper]

If nothing else, they seem original. Give us a sample of the awesome names you would come up with that would fit each location.

[E20]

The Colorado Rockies.

I think the Mountaineers are taken.

[Budkin]

GO TOROS GO!!!

[bigfan]

Im beginning to think this Ian pick might turn out ok after all.....