Austin Toros take five game winning streak into Friday match up with Los Angeles
After nine game road trip, the Austin Toros came home in mid January with a 10-9 record looking to prove they were a better team than their record showed. They responded with a five game win streak that included two wins on the road.
Toros 121 - Bayhawks 113
Over the course of the win streak the Toro’s have averaged 122 points per contest. They got their win streak started with a 121-113 win over the Erie Bayhawks and shot a red hot 51 percent from the field while going 50 percent from behind the arc. Five Toros scored 20 points or more in the win with Malik Hairston pouring in 31 points.
Toros 122 - Mad Ants 124
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants were the next team that found themselves dealing with a Toros team that was on a roll and it proved to be a tall task.
The Toros had the nets sizzling once again as they shot 55 percent from the field while rolling to a 133-124 win at the Austin Convention Center. Hairston continued his strong shooting with his 35 points on 12-of-25 shooting and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Big man Dwayne Jones, coming off a 22 point 15 rebound performance against the Bayhawks, registered his second straight double double by scoring 20 points and pulling down 23 boards.
Toros 126 - Red Claws 114
After getting well on some home cooking the Toros headed to Maine for a road game against the Red Claws and never missed a beat. They came away with a 126-114 win behind yet another strong performance by Malik Hairston as he dropped 43 points on the Red Claws.
Teammate Curtis Jerrells had his third straight game with 20 or more points as he totaled 30 points on the night to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists. The Toros had five players in double figures and combined for 12 steals in the game.
Toros 114 - Armor 107
It was then on to Springfield Massachusetts for a match up with Springfield Armor. Things were not looking to good for the Toros at the end of the first half as the Armor built a 56-43 lead over the first two quarters.
But that all changed in the third quarter as Hairston scored nine points in the quarter to go along with 13 points from Curtis Jerrells to help the Toros take a 80-78 lead going into the fourth period.
Austin got the fourth quarter underway with a 9-3 run before Springfield fought back to close to with in two at 99-97 with 3:15 left in the game. The Toros responded with a 15-10 run to close out the game and come away with a 114-107 win. Nine of their final 15 points were the result of free throw as they went 9-of-9 from the charity stripe.
The Toros had three players score 20 plus points in the win. Hairston finished with 34 points, Jerrells 29, and Alonzo Gee 21.
Toros 119 - Defenders 103
The Toros returned home Thursday looking to make it five straight against Los Angeles who had lost seven of their last eight games.
Los Angeles had little luck in keeping the Toro offense in check in the early going as Alonzo Gee got off to a fast start with 12 first quarter points to help Austin take a 28-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The third quarter got underway with Austin holding a slime lead at 56-55 before extending the lead to 64-57 with 9:18 to go in the quarter. The Toros outscored LA 32-23 in the third period and 31-25 in the fourth to take a 119-103 win and extend their win streak to five games.
Curtis Jerrells led all scorers with 25 points. Austin had six players in double figures and totaled 29 assists.
