The Texas Legends took a 3-1 series lead against the Austin Spurs tonight in Cedar Park with a 113-110 victory. Led by 23 points from Ricky Ledo, the Legends fought off a 20-point Austin comeback to finish the fight. The Legends won the tipoff but gave up the first points to the Spurs for their first and last lead of the half. Texas' starting lineup spread the ball to get all five on the board within minutes. Despite seven ties, the Legends maintained control taking a 27-22 lead at the buzzer. Nine of ten Legends contributed in the second shooting 61% and 50% from outside as their advantage increased to double-digits. Texas reached their largest lead of the night after halftime building a 20 point gap over the Spurs before Austin found an answer. Jonathan Simmons grabbed 10 third-quarter points to lead the Spurs in their rally strike as they outscored the Legends 37-29 and cut the deficit to seven. The fourth quarter saw a lull in the offense as the Spurs continued their surge. Austin outshot the Legends 40% to 30% but both teams saw only 20% completed from the three. Despite outscoring Texas yet again, the Spurs were unable to complete the comeback, ultimately falling in the final seconds. Ledo tied a game-high with 23 points also adding 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Damion James added 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots while Renaldo Balkman grabbed the team's only other double-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals. Orlando Johnson led the Spurs with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Erik Murphy (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Kyle Anderson (19 points, 16 rebounds) each added double-doubles. The Legends will continue their road streak, heading to Westchester and Delaware over the weekend. Texas plays the Knicks for the first time Saturday at 6pm CT and the 87ers Sunday at 4pm CT. Fans can catch both games live on the NBA D-League's YouTube channel. Press release for the Texas Legends
The Sioux Falls Skyforce used a dominant third quarter en route to a 110-99 victory over the Iowa Energy. The win is Sioux Falls' seventh win in their last eight home games. The Energy (10-12) jumped out to an early 11-4 lead on a Ferrakohn Hall dunk with 7:51 left in the quarter. A Scotty Hopson jumper with 3:59 left in the quarter brought Sioux Falls (13-11) within two points of the Energy. Iowa would continue to lead the rest of the quarter and nine points from Kalin Lucas helped the Energy take a 27-22 lead into the second quarter. Hopson led the Skyforce with 10 first quarter points. Sioux Falls, scoring on 10 of their first 14 possessions, started the second quarter on a 16-9 run and took their first lead of the game when a three pointer by Hopson gave them a 40-39 lead with 6:54 remaining in the quarter. The Skyforce held the Energy scoreless from the 6:35 mark to the 2:45 mark of the second quarter. Behind 18 first half points from Hopson, the Skyforce took a 55-49 lead into the half. The Skyforce extended their lead to 10 just over two minutes into the third quarter when a driving lay-up by Fuquan Edwin gave Sioux Falls a 65-55 lead. Sioux Falls' lead continued to grow throughout the quarter and a 14-0 run to end the quarter gave them a 94-67 lead heading into the final quarter. The Skyforce outscored the Energy 39-18 in the quarter. 39 third quarter points is a season high third quarter points for Sioux Falls. An alley-oop from Hopson to Shawn Jones gave the Skyforce a 106-74 lead with 7:03 remaining in the game. The 32 point lead was the largest lead of the game for Sioux Falls. From there the Energy began to cut into the Sioux Falls lead and got as close as 11 when Jarnell Stokes made two free throws with 1:29 remaining in the game. Neither team would score the rest of the way and the Skyforce finished the night with a 110-99 victory. Scotty Hopson scored a career high 30 points to lead all scorers. In addition to his career high in points, Hopson added 11 rebounds and eight assists. Shawn Jones scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and his seventh double-double of the season. 10 points and 10 rebounds from Khem gave him a team leading nine double-doubles on the season. Bubu Palo, in his first game with the team, finished with eight points, three rebounds and two assists. Kalin Lucas and Jordan Adams, on assignment from Memphis, both scored 18 points, leading the five Energy players who scored in double figures. Lucas also had a team high four assists. Jarnell Stokes, also on assignment from Memphis, finished the night with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The Skyforce (13-11) will now head east for a four game road trip, with the first game coming this Saturday against the Maine Red Claws (17-6). Iowa will return home to face the Grand Rapids Drive (13-9) this Saturday. Press release from the Sioux Falls Skyforce
