Bighorns Fall to Austin

Bighorns Release

11/15/2016

The Reno Bighorns (0-2) fell to the Austin Spurs (1-1) 115-92 Tuesday morning at the State H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.

Malachi Richardson, who is on assignment from the Sacramento Kings, led the Bighorns with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists. Kings assignment player, Lamar Patterson, followed Richardson closely tallying 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kings affiliate player, Isaiah Cousins had 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Cory Jefferson paced the Spurs with 20 points, five rebounds while Jarell Eddie added 19 points and five rebounds for the Spurs.

The two teams would keep the score close behind a triple from Cousins and a dunk from Georgios Papagiannis until the Spurs pulled away after going on an 11-2 run midway through the first. Chane Behanan would sink two free throws to end the first quarter, with the Spurs entering the second quarter with a 30-20 lead. Patterson and Cousins would total five points each in the frame.

Austin would preserve control of the game in the second period, extending their advantage to 12 points to enter the break with a 54-42 lead.

Austin maintained their advantage over the Bighorns throughout the third quarter, keeping the Bighorns at bay with a double-digit advantage. The Bighorns entered the fourth quarter trailing the Spurs 84-66.

The Bighorns opened the fourth quarter outscoring the Spurs 20-15, behind three combined triples from Cousins and Patterson, cutting the deficit to 101-81 with just under six minutes remaining.  The Bighorns would fall short of a comeback victory, ultimately dropping to Austin 115-92. Patterson would go 2-2 from behind the arc in the final frame.

The Bighorns will face the Austin Spurs again Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. PST. Before returning home to host the Oklahoma City Blue on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. for their 2016-17 home opener.