G League Sioux Falls Skyforce

Stokes' Career Night Leads Skyforce Past Spurs

Published on March 15, 2016 under NBA G League (G League)
Sioux Falls Skyforce News Release


Sioux Falls, SD - The Sioux Falls Skyforce (34-8) held off the Austin Spurs (25-16) to earn a hard-fought 107-99 victory on Monday night at the Sanford Pentagon.

Jarnell Stokes set a new NBA Development League career high with 29 points to go along with 12 rebounds, earning his eleventh double-double in 21 games played this season for the Skyforce.

Sioux Falls was quick out of the gate, starting the game on an 8-2 run which forced the Spurs to burn an early timeout. However, Austin was able to fight back and regain a four-point lead heading into the second quarter. The Skyforce outscored the Spurs 31-23 in the second quarter, and their lead hung around five points for the majority of the second half, eventually resulting in an eight-point victory.

Greg Whittington (19 points, seven rebounds, six steals, and four assists) came up with a few momentum-shifting steals down the stretch, and tied his NBA D-League career high with six steals in the game. Though scoring was limited from the Skyforce bench, Keith Benson recorded six rebounds and set a new NBA D-League career high with six blocks in just over fifteen minutes of playing time.

Sioux Falls relied heavily on their starters throughout the night, as no one in the starting five played less than 34 minutes. The starters also combined to score 94 of the team's 107 total points.

Cady Lalanne (24 points, nine rebounds) scored a team-high 24 points of the bench for the Spurs, and Brandon Fields (19 points, five assists, and four rebounds), Keifer Sykes (15 points, six rebounds), and Nick Johnson (15 points, eight assists, and six rebounds) rounded out a well-balanced offensive attack in the loss for Austin.

Atlanta Hawks assignee Walter Tavares made Sioux Falls earn every point scored in the paint, finishing the night with five blocked shots and altering countless others throughout the contest.

With a 34-8 record, the Skyforce now hold the best record in NBA D-League history through a team's first 42 games of the season. They will look to improve on their overall record, as well as their six-game home winning streak, in a weekend double-header against the Canton Charge (27-15) on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19.

The Spurs will head back home to face the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (22-20) on Thursday, March 17.

Check out the Sioux Falls Skyforce Statistics

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