Austin’s Late Bucket Beats Skyforce

A layup with less than a second left put the Austin Spurs on the road to victory over the Sioux Falls Skyforce 119-118 Tuesday afternoon at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

The game wasn’t always that close as a sizzling first quarter going 8 for 10 from deep putting Sioux Falls (3-2) up 41-29 after twelve minutes. The lead was extended to as many as 22 points in the first half before Austin (4-2) came back in the second half.

In the pivotal fourth quarter, Sioux Falls continued to hold the lead with Austin only able to forge a tie on three separate occasions. In the final sequence, Sioux Falls had just rebounded a missed Austin free throw with 30 seconds left with a one-point advantage.

Austin put the game in the hands of their defense. As the shot clock wound down a Skyforce attempt hit the backboard, but not the rim. There was enough time to get up another attempt which also missed.

A Spurs fast break was the result as a lob at the rim was converted by Jaron Blossomgame. The desperation attempt in the time remaining from the Skyforce’s Kadeem Jack missed the mark.

In the losing effort, two Skyforce players supplied 24 points each as Torrey Craig and Tony Mitchell both found success from long range. After spending the last week with the Miami Heat, Derrick Walton, Jr. made his Sioux Falls debut and came one assist shy of a double-double (20 points, 9 assists).

Along with scoring the winning basket, Austin’s Blossomgame poured in 25 points with 8 rebounds. The top scorer for the Spurs was two-way player Darrun Hilliard with his 31 counters.

The next outing for Austin arrives Friday against the Oklahoma City Blue. Sioux Falls will also play Friday night as host to Rio Grande Valley.

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