AUSTIN – With Dejounte Murray and Bryn Forbes being recalled to the NBA, the Austin Spurs put together one of their best and most balanced performances of the season, defeating the Rio Grand Valley Vipers, 116-97.
Austin’s bench had a strong showing with Livio Jean-Charles leading the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Jeff Ledbetter had 17 points, while Charles Garcia had 12.
Among the Spurs starters, Cory Jefferson finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Patricio Garino added 15 points in 32 minutes, while Jarell Eddie and Daniel Stewart had 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For the Vipers, Darius Morris led all scores with 24 points. Joshua Smith had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Jarvius Threatt had 16 points off the bench.
Stewart came out of the gates on fire for the Spurs, scoring nine of his 11 points in the first five minutes of the game. Despite tying the game several times, the Vipers struggled to pull ahead, giving Austin an early 30-23 lead to end the quarter.
Rio Grand Valley eventually took a quick lead in the second quarter before Jean-Charles rattled off 11 points for the Spurs, giving Austin a 12-point halftime lead.
Austin pushed their lead to as much as 25 points in the fourth quarter behind Ledbetter and Jefferson, before winning by 19 points.
Friday’s game still exposed some issues Austin’s had all season. Despite the balanced scoring effort, the Spurs only tallied 12 assists on the night to their 19 turnovers. Austin also struggled a tad from beyond the arc, but managed a +10 rebounding advantage over a bigger Vipers squad.
The Austin Spurs (7-10) will enjoy Christmas weekend before taking on a strong Texas Legends (9-6) squad on Wednesday night. Tipoff of that game will be at 7:30 p.m. CST from the HEB Center at Cedar Park.
