CEDAR PARK, TX – The Austin Spurs were fighting for their playoff lives on Saturday night in Cedar Park, needing a win to extend their first round series against Bakersfield.
And win they did, behind a big performance from Orlando Johnson, who finished with 29 points and seven assists in a 98-86 win.
With Kyle Anderson back in town after being re-assigned by the San Antonio Spurs and Mouhamed Sene notching his season high, the Spurs got rolling early.
The first quarter played host to quick scoring starts between Johnson and Jam shooting guard Casey Prather, who got to the line several times and scored eight of his 12 first quarter points from the charity stripe.
The Spurs however got out and shot at a blistering pace, knocking down 63 percent of their shots, eventually leading to 30 first quarter points and a seven point advantage.
The Spurs widened the gap even more with a balanced scoring attack and some scoring help off the bench in the second quarter and they had a 24 point lead in the third quarter, before the Jam made a rally behind Xavier Munford, who made things interesting by scoring 13 of his 19 points in the fourth.
While the Jam bested the Spurs in scoring by six points in the fourth, it was too little too late.
Anderson had a rough shooting night, but managed to get to the line, and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals to his 15 points.
Sene was a perfect nine-for-nine from the field for 19 points, nine rebounds and an impressive four blocked shots.
The Spurs had five players in double figures, which more than made up for the scoring drought by Mfon Udofia, who got into foul trouble.
The Jam were led by Prather’s 21 points and Munford’s 19.
The Spurs and Jam match up for a critical, series-deciding Game 3 tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Cedar Park Center.
