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I’ll tell you this, there are much worse games to start a new beat with.

Toros head coach Quin Snyder picked up two technical fouls in the second quarter and was ejected, and the Toros played a back-and-forth contest with the BayHawks before pulling away late thanks to some solid second-half free throw shooting.

The Toros were just 5-13 (38%) from the free throw line in the first half, but hit most of their freebies down the stretch and finished 32-45 (71%) for the game. The clutch free throw shooting was the key reason for holding off Erie.

But the story of the game was Snyder’s ejection. Frustrated with the calls the Toros were getting in the first half, Snyder was whistled for a technical early in the second quarter by referee Brenda Pantoja. Just seconds later, he was given his second technical and told to leave the floor.

His exit wasn’t as outrageous as ejections seen in other minor leagues, but the fans definitely got their money’s worth. And it appeared to fire up both the crowd and his team for a short time.

And despite losing their coach, the Toros didn’t miss a beat.

“Me and Dwayne (Jones), we was trying to be vocal and run some of the stuff that coach would like to run in certain situations and down the stretch,” point guard Curtis Jerrells said.

In the second half, neither team took a hold of the game and ran out to a big lead. The Toros used an 11-3 run mid-way through the fourth, behind 3-pointers from Jerrells and Alonzo Gee, to take a 97-95 lead. From there, the Toros simply made stops and hit their free throws to preserve the lead.

All five Toros starters scored at least 20 points, led by Malik Hairston’s 31 points. Dwayne Jones and Justin Bowen each logged double-doubles, with 22 points and 15 rebounds for Jones and 20 points and 12 rebounds for Bowen.

“It’s good to have that kind of balance,” Jerrells said. “It makes it tough for the defense.”

The Toros take on the Fort Wayne Mad Ants tonight, and with all five starters playing at least 32 minutes last night, it’ll be interesting to see how fresh the team looks.