Skyforce Top Energy 132-99 in Home Finale
March 29, 2017 - NBA G League (G League)
Sioux Falls Skyforce News Release
SKYFORCE TOP ENERGY 132-99 IN HOME FINALE
Sioux Falls, SD - The Sioux Falls Skyforce (28-20) put on one, final show for their home crowd this season, scoring more than 30 points in every quarter on their way to defeating the Iowa Energy (11-37) at the Sanford Pentagon on Tuesday night.
The Energy's largest lead was one point on multiple occasions early in the first quarter, but the Skyforce built a four-point lead heading into the second quarter and never looked back, leading by as many as 35 points down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
Sioux Falls didn't look like a team that had just been eliminated from playoff contention a night ago. The team played with energy and enthusiasm from whistle to whistle, and pitched in one of it's best shooting performances of the season. The Skyforce shot 50.5 percent from the field, including a blistering 54.3 percent from beyond the three-point line, making 19 of 35 attempts from long range.
Henry Walker came off the bench to lead the offensive attack for Sioux Falls, scoring 17 of his game-high 22 points in the first half alone. Walker also collected a team-high 12 rebounds in a game that saw three different Skyforce players record double-doubles.
Malik Beasley (22 points and 10 rebounds) matched Walker's game-high point total while recording his third career double-double while finishing with a +/- stat of plus-32 in the contest. Keith Benson (14 points and 11 rebounds) continued his dominance over Iowa, managing to tally double-doubles in all four matchups with the Energy this season. Benson now has a league-leading 31 double-doubles on the season.
Larry Drew II (16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds) quietly approached triple-double numbers in just 25 minutes off the bench, while Patrick Miller (16 points), Greg Whittington (14 points) and Jabril Trawick (11 points) rounded out those scoring in double figures in the win for Sioux Falls.
All 10 players to enter the game for the Skyforce finished with a +/- stat line of plus-10 or higher in the well-rounded victory. Sioux Falls held the Energy to just 99 points on the night, marking the first time they have held opponents under 100 since defeating the Northern Arizona Suns 96-94 in double-overtime on Christmas Day.
Jarell Martin (19 points) led Iowa in scoring as six players scored in double figures, while Matt Costello (13 points and 11 rebounds) and Wes Washpun (11 points and 10 assists) both tallied double-doubles in the loss.
The win tonight marks the first winning season the Skyforce have had against the Iowa Energy since the team came into existence, finishing the season series with a record of 3-1 against their Midwest rivals. In previous years, the best Sioux Falls has done is tie the season series, including last season when the Energy accounted for three of the Skyforce's 10 losses.
Now with 28 wins, the Skyforce have won more games than any other non-playoff team in NBA D-League history, as multiple teams have finished with a record of 27-23 and have missed the playoffs.
Sioux Falls will now finish their season on the road, traveling to Oklahoma City to take on the Blue on Thursday, March 30 and then traveling to Austin to take on the Spurs in their 2016-17-season finale on Saturday, April 1.
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