Game Review: Austin Toros 121, Erie BayHawks 113

This was an entertaining game throughout. It featured blood (Alonzo Gee had to don a different jersey for most of the game after suffering a cut above his eye early on), sweat (a combined 85 free throw attempts meant their were plenty of bodies hitting the floor, a busy night for the towel boy), and tears (if you're an emotional fan of Toros Coach Quin Snyder, who was tossed in the first half for arguing with the referee.)

But it was a 72-second span late in the fourth quarter that proved to be the decisive stretch in this one. It started with 2:26 remaining in the game. That's when Cliff Clinkscales floating bank shot in the lane (he may or may not have called glass on that one) went in to tie the game at 111. That was the last field goal for the BayHawks, who were outscored 10-2 the rest of the way, losing 121-113 in Austin.



The sequence of events from Clinkscales' made basket at 2:26 down to 1:14 on the clock put this one to bed in a hurry. So let's do something a little different and use the play-by-play account to break down the breakdown of the BayHawks down the stretch.

2:15 - Austin's Curtis Jerrells misses a 3, but Dwayne Jones grabs his 6th offensive rebound of the night and is fouled by Kyle Goldcamp. He hits both free throws: Austin 113, Erie 111.

2:04 - Erie's Cedric Jackson takes a hop step into the lane and is called for travelling.

1:53 - Curtis Jerrells comes back at the other end with a layup off an assist from Alonzo Gee to put Austin up 115-111.

1:36 - Cedric Jackson misses a 3-pointer, and Austin's Alonzo Gee clears the rebound.

1:16 - The play that did essentially put the nail in the coffin of the BayHawks reads like this on the play-by-play: Gee Turnover: Lost Ball, Steal: Tolbert, Tolbert Foul. That's basically what it looked like live on FutureCast as well. Gee lost the ball to Tolbert, but in the scrum for the loose ball, Tolbert was called for his sixth personal foul. Curiously, there's also a play that says Tolbert Turnover: Lost Ball, Steal: Bowen listed at 1:14 after Tolbert was fouled out. I'm thinking the play-by-play must have that out of sequence, and that the Tolbert turnover happened right before his sixth foul on the loose ball.

1:14 - Technical foul on BayHawks Coach John Treloar, who clearly disagreed with the call against Tolbert. Malik Hairston hit the technical free throw and Alonzo Gee added two more for the personal foul, extending Austin's lead to 118-11.

That's how you give away a game in just over a minute: committing one turnover, missing your one and only shot (a 3), surrendering one offensive rebound, committing two personal fouls, and a adding technical foul for good measure.

Following all of that, Erie came out of a timeout with a missed three from Ivan Harris and a missed putback attempt by John Bryant, and the rest was history like the BayHawks' four-game win streak. They now sit at 10-13 on the year while Austin improves to 10-9.

Because it's too late to keep writing, and Internet readers love bullet points, here are some quick hit observations from watching the game on FutureCast:

• Malik Hairston shredded the BayHawks defensively, scoring 31 points on 11-20 shooting (8-10 from the free throw line), and Dwayne Jones owned the boards, grabbing 15, including 6 on the offensive end. He also made a living at the line, shooting 10-12 from the stripe, accounting for a good portion of his 22 points on the night.
• *Jackie Manuel and Mike Gansey did not play for the BayHawks. No word on why, but the FutureCast announcer did say on more than one occasion, and I quote, "Jackie Manuel not playing tonight." Thanks for elaborating...not.
• Cedric Jackson continues to impress: a team-high 34 points (9-21 from the field, 3-8 from 3, and 13-17 from the line) with 13 assists, 5 rebounds, and just 4 turnovers. Seriously, 17 free throw attempts?! He's a one-man wrecking crew driving the lane.
• By my count, Alade Aminu had 7 dunks on the night. That's not a stat the D-League counts, but it's impressive. He also matched Dwayne Jones with 15 rebounds. Those are all good things. In the "not good" column, he shot just 4-12 from the free throw line.
• Speaking of free throws, Austin was 5-15 at the line early in the second half before connecting on 27 of their last 30 from the charity stripe. On a whistle-heavy night, they finished 32-45 (71.1 percent) while Erie shot 27-40 (67.5 percent).
• Cliff Clinkscales had his best game in awhile, scoring 16 points on 8-11 shooting.
• Kyle Goldcamp had his best game as a pro: 6 points (3-3 shooting), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal in 21 minutes.

The BayHawks now return home to host a weekend series against the best team in the West, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Games are Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m.

*EDIT: I finally learned that Mike Gansey has missed the past three games with a bruised calf. No word yet on the status of Jackie Manuel and his DNP from last night.