Early Burst, Late Flourish Send Skyforce into Orbit

The Sioux Falls Skyforce earned a weekend sweep by never trailing in Saturday night’s 119-109 win over Salt Lake City at the Sanford Pentagon.

Thirteen straight points for Sioux Falls (3-1) was the opening salvo. However the Stars (0-4) mounted several rallies, keeping it close until the final stages. One area of concern for Sioux Falls was committing a season-high 27 turnovers in the win.

Coach Nevada Smith says the Skyforce outrebounding the Stars by 17 set the tone.

“After the first two games, we were the worst offensive rebounding team in the league. We needed to pick up our effort on that end. Tonight we created enough missed shots we were able to corral some defensive ones as well.”

Skyforce Forward Tony Mitchell provided 25 points off the bench including connecting seven times from long range.

“Coach Smith told us the plan was to take advantage of whatever they gave us. Salt Lake City played off me and I felt comfortable shooting and they gave me a lot of shots.”

Erik McCree added 24 points to the Skyforce total. Other significant contributions came from Torrey Craig with 19 points, Matt Williams, Jr. with 18 points and a near triple-double from Larry Drew II (13 points, 14 assists and 9 rebounds).

Former Iowa State sharpshooter Naz Mitrou-Long led the Stars with 26 points as Torian Graham was close by with 23 in the scoring column. Former South Dakota State grad Nate Wolters finished with 7 points and 8 assists.

Sioux Falls meets Austin for a road tussle on Tuesday before returning home for a pair of games with Rio Grande Valley this weekend. For their next appearance, Salt Lake City will take on Santa Cruz on Wednesday.

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