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Amidst the crazy partying for the arrival of PTR’s LatinD in the Live Music Capitol of the World and the petitions passed around to enshrine former Toros coach Dennis Johnson in the Hall of Fame, there was a basketball game played at the Austin Convention Center on Thursday night.

Curtis Jerrells led the way for the Austin Toros with 25 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals as the Toros won their fifth straight game, beating the Los Angeles D-Fenders 119-103. The win solidifies the Toros position as the second seed in the D-League’s Western Conference, 3.5 games behind the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (the Houston Rockets D-League affiliate).

Despite an obvious size and athleticism advantage (Austin out-rebounded Los Angeles in the game 55-28), the Toros went into halftime up only one point, 56-55. Austin had trouble slowing down the D-Fenders 5′7″ point guard Horace Wormely, who scored 17 points on 7-10 shooting. On a number of occasions, Wormely went coast-to-coast for layups that the Toros transition defense was helpless to stop.

But early in the fourth quarter, Toros coach Quin Snyder got more animated on the sidelines when his team was playing defense. The motivational tactic seemed to work and Austin got the requisite stops to pull away from the D-Fenders.

Malik Hairston scored 22 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out 10 assists, and the D-League’s top rebounder, Dwayne Jones, grabbed another 17 boards to go with 14 points.

The Toros take on the D-Fenders again tonight at the Austin Convention Center.