Toros Pierce the Springfield Armor in a Thriller 105-100!

(12/29/2011-Cedar Park, TX) - Oh how nice it is to have the new additions of Leo Lyons, Luke Zeller, and Da'Sean Butler running with the Toros.

Leo Lyons is Back!

All 3 players helped lead the charge as the 8-3 Austin Toros outlasted the 7-6 Springfield Armor in a thriller that was tight from beginning to end.  Lyons had been nursing a broken foot, and Butler & Zeller were just resigned after being waived by the San Antonio Spurs.

Player of the Game Eric Dawson threw down 28 points and collected 11 boards for the Toros and Justin Dentmon, scoring 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, put the game away from the charity stripe with more of his clutch shooting from the free throw line.

JamesOn Curry and L.D. Williams lead the charge for the Armor with 22 points a piece.

Box Score Courtesy of the NBA Development League.

THE COACHES' CORNER


A relieved Coach Brad Jones discussed the game with the Armor:



"This was probably the best overall game we've been apart of all year long as far as both teams competing and both teams trying to do the right things," said Toros Coach Brad Jones after the game.  "I feel fortunate to get the win.  Springfield definitely came in here ready to play."

The game featured 15 lead changes and neither team ever lead by more than 8 points.

As has been the case all season for the Toros, there were some more roster shakeups this week, with not just the return of Lyons and Zeller, but also with the addition of Da'Sean Butler.  Butler, the former West Virginia grad who was the 2nd round pick of the Miami Heat in last years draft, has been recovering from injury and was playing for the first time in 2 years.

"We're monitoring him (Butler) a little bit and trying to get him back to full speed," say Coach Jones.  "But I thought he came in and really gave us a good effort."

Butler finished the game with 6 points and 5 rebounds in just over 17 minutes of play.

Now that the NBA Rosters have been set and it appears that roster moves may calm down a bit, how does the coach feel about his lineup?

"Hopefully we'll get to keep this group for awhile and have some continuity because I'm really feeling good about the group we have right now."

If you missed this Holiday Hoops classic, the good news is that you have a chance to watch the rematch tomorrow night.

"If fans want to see a real good basketball game, they should come to the Cedar Park Center tomorrow night at 7:30pm because Springfield is very well coached; they've got some real good, tough players on their team.  Hopefully our guys will give the type of effort they gave today.  It'll probably have to be even better because good team bounce back and they'll give us all they have tomorrow."

Here are the highlights from today's game:



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