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Playing in their third game in four days, Austin Toros led start to finish and beat their conference rival the Tulsa 66ers 95-87 on Tuesday night.

Tulsa started with a big front line of 6’7″ Larry Owens, 6’11″ DeVon Hardin and the recently-sent down 7’1″ Byron Mullens against the Toros starting front line of 6’6″ Alonzo Gee, 6’6″ Eddie Basden and 6’10″ Dwayne Jones.

But it was Austin who forced their opponent to match-up to them. The Toros speed and quickness was the story early as Austin played the passing lanes well and stole several passes, deflecting others, and Tulsa eventually went small to counter.

In the first half, the Toros forced 12 turnovers, including ten steals, and scored 19 points off Tulsa’s turnovers. Alonzo Gee was a standout offensively for the Toros in the first half. He scored 12 straight points at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second half, including eight off dunks.

Austin led Tulsa 51-45 at halftime.

In the second half, the driving lanes weren’t as wide as they were in the first and Austin committed seven turnovers in the third quarter alone, mostly from lost dribbles and deflected passes. When Tulsa went back to their two big man lineup, Austin ran a pick-and-roll with Eddie Basden attacking off a screen from Dwayne Jones. It resulted in an open three-pointer in the corner for Alonzo Gee.

On the next play, Curtis Jerrells ran a pick-and-roll with Jones that ended with Gee hitting a three-pointer in the other corner. Tulsa pulled DeVon Hardin, guarding Basden on the first play and Gee on the second, and went back to trying to match up to Austin’s small ball lineup.

In the fourth quarter, Dwayne Jones scored seven of his 26 points and the Toros held on to win. Jones on the low block against Tulsa was a focal point of the offense more than it usually is. He showed off a solid jump hook and a spin move that worked wonders against the bigger Byron Mullens. Jones finished the game 6-of-8 from the field, grabbed 14 rebounds and went to the free throw line 17 times.