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G League Austin Spurs

Toros Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over Flyers

April 2, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Austin Spurs News Release


Austin, TEXAS, April 2, 2006 - One night after clinching the NBA D-League regular season title, the Fort Worth Flyers couldn't buy a basket against the Austin Toros. Behind some cold shooting by the Flyers and a big-night from Austin guard Ramel Curry, the Toros kept their postseason hopes alive with a 106-95 win at the Convention Center.

Curry finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point land. Curry's 25 points was the first time he recorded 20 or more points since going for 25 against the Flyers in mid December.

"We really wanted to come out and avenge the loss from (Saturday) night," said Curry. "They came out on Saturday and pretty much controlled us from the start. We had a much better effort as a team on the defensive side of the floor and it helped us get a victory today."

Curry led the Toros' starters, who all finished in double-figure scoring. Austin point guard Derrick Zimmerman added 17 points while Jamar Smith chipped in with 16 points. Scott Merritt and Andre Emmett rounded out the starting five with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Austin (24-23) still has a chance to reach the postseason, but needs some help with two games left to play. As of now, Fort Worth (27-17) )is the only team in the league to have secured not only a playoff berth, but home-court throughout.

The Flyers were led Ime Udoka with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Aaron Miles added 22 points while Keith Langford finished with 19 points off the bench.

"We knew what we had to do today to stay in the playoff hunt," said Austin head coach Dennis Johnson. "The guys were very focused and did what they had to do to get a win today."

After shooting just 23.5 percent in the first quarter of Saturday's loss to the Flyers, the Toros got off to a much better start on Sunday. Austin shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the field in the first quarter to build a 23-16 lead. Curry was huge in the opening quarter going 3-of-4 from the field for eight points.

The Toros' defense was also much better in the first quarter as they held Fort Worth to 30.4 percent on 7-of-23 shooting.

Austin continued its hot shooting to open the second quarter putting together a 15-4 run to extend its lead to 18 points (38-20) with six minutes left before the half. Fort Worth, however, answered the Austin charge with some big shots from beyond the 3-point line.

After missing the first four from beyond the three-point line, Udoka and Kelenna Azubuike nailed three of the next four Fort Worth shots from downtown to cut the deficit to ten points with two minutes before the half. The Flyer deficit remained at ten points going into the locker room.

The Toros wrap of regular season play against the Flyers Thursday Night at the Convention Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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