G League Austin Spurs

Double-double by Sow propels Arkansas past Austin……

Published on December 23, 2005 under NBA G League (G League)
Austin Spurs News Release


AUSTIN, Texas - The Arkansas RimRockers got a monster game from center Pape Sow and held on to knock off the Austin Toros 108-101 at the Convention Center.

Sow, who is in the D-League on assignment from the NBA's Toronto Raptors finished with 27 points to go with a D-League season-high 24 rebounds. RimRocker leading scorer Clay Tucker added 19 points while Myron Allen chipped in with 17 points.

Arkansas (9-4) point guard Kareem Reid finished one point and one assist away from a double-double recording nine each.

Marcus Fizer and Ramel Curry paced Austin (2-7) with 20 points each. Derrick Zimmerman chipped in with 14 points while Ezra Williams added 13 off the bench. Austin was outrebounded 54-45, but committed seven fewer turnovers than Arkansas.

With the win, Arkansas improves to 5-1 on the road this season.

"We just really needed to get a win tonight and I think we all came together to do just that," said Sow. "We all came in here tonight with the mentality that we wanted to take this game."

"I think what made Pape Sow so productive tonight is that he stayed within his game," said Toros head coach Dennis Johnson. "He worked hard at getting to the basketball and really outplayed our guys at certain points in the game."

A game filled with runs, Arkansas opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into a seven point lead at 61-54.

Austin, who shot just 42.1 percent (40-of-95) from the field, was never able to get over the hump as the RimRockers held on to the lead until the final buzzer.

"We worked really hard and being better defensively when we needed to," said Arkansas head coach Joe Harge.

"After getting beat (Thursday) night, we wanted to make sure we came in here and played well enough to give ourselves a chance to win. And I think we did just that."

Arkansas opened a 27-19 first quarter lead behind some solid play by Sow. Sow made his presence felt recording eight rebounds (four offensive and four defensive) and 10 points in the first quarter.

Austin did its part to help Arkansas build the lead by starting off very frigid from the floor. The Toros finished the first quarter shooting just 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from the field while being outrebounded 18-9.

Austin responded to Arkansas' hot start by getting solid play from Curry and Scott Merritt just before the half.

The pair combined to score 21 first half points and were huge during a 15-1 Austin run that helped get the Toros back in the game.

The Toros will host the Tulsa 66ers on Wednesday, Dec. 28 beginning at 7:30 p.m. as the RimRockers head to Fort Worth to take on the Flyers on Dec. 30.

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NBA G League Stories from December 23, 2005


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