CEDAR PARK – After back-to-back wins over the defending champions, the Austin Spurs would see their four-game winning streak halted by the Reno Bighorns, 108-89.
The Spurs offense struggled mightily, but were led by another great performance from Ray McCallum, who was on assignment from San Antonio. McCallum finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 35 minutes for the silver and black. Also contributing for the Spurs was Youssou Ndoye with 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Orlando Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 12 points each.
For Reno, the Bighorns were paced by Vince Hunter’s 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Erick Green stuffed the stat sheet with 26 points, four rebounds, six assists and five steals. David Stockton, son of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton, also had 14 points and eight assists for Reno.
It was a tale of 12 minutes for the Spurs as they came out firing in the first quarter, matching Reno shot for shot to end the first quarter down 30-28. But the Bighorns would start the second quarter on a 14-0 run before a Keifer Sykes jumper gave Austin their first basket of the frame with 7:17 left. The Spurs would eventually cut Reno’s double-digit lead down to a Bighorns 52-46 lead at halftime.
In the second half Orlando Johnson would give the Spurs a huge lift by scoring seven of his 12 points to start the third quarter. Ndoye’s rebound and tip-in would give Austin a 62-61 lead with 5:28 left in the third, before Reno would go on a 22-5 run to end the quarter and any hopes of a fifth straight Spurs win.
The Spurs (14-4) get a few days off before traveling to Santa Cruz for the NBA D-League Showcase. They’ll be taking on the Iowa Energy (7-10) on Wednesday, January 6th from Kaiser Permanente Arena. Tipoff is at 9:30 PM Central.
