Toros Ram Past Vipers

A strong defensive effort from the Austin Toros, and a poor shooting night from the entire Rio Grande Valley roster led to the lowest point total in franchise history as the Vipers fell 110-75 to the Austin Toros Thursday night at the Austin Convention Center. The win for the Toros breaks their four game losing skid, and the loss for the Vipers is their third straight defeat away from Dodge Arena.

The Vipers kept the game close in the first half despite shooting just 31% from the field. They lead for the majority of the first quarter before surrendering the lead at the 4:45 mark on a Serge Angounou bank shot from the wing giving the Toros a 14-12 advantage. The Vipers unfortunately would not sniff the lead for the remainder of the game. The Toros outscored the Vipers 22-18 in the second quarter and led 46-36 at intermission.

After the Vipers closed a 10-point halftime deficit to three, the Toros exploded for a 19-3 run and would lead by 25 at the end of the third quarter. Rio Grande Valley did not fare much better into the fourth as Austin outscored RGV 33-23 and ran their lead to as many as 40 points as the Vipers could not find the answer offensively to the stifling Austin defense. Rio Grande Valley shot just 32% from the field in the loss.

Ivan Johnson led the scoring load for the Vipers with 18 points off the bench. Vipers leading scorer Desmon Farmer was limited to only 17 points on 5-16 shooting. Kris Collins in his second straight start for the banged up Quin Humphrey scored 13 on a poor shooting night for him as well.

The Toros had six players tally double figures, and everyone on their roster scored. Marcus Williams scored 25 to lead the way for the Austin. Justin Bowen added a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, while DeMarr Johnson scored 19 in the Toros 26th win of the season.

The Vipers 75 points on Thursday, is the lowest point total in the young history of the franchise. The Vipers will play their final game versus their in-state rival on Friday night with a 7:00 pm tip-off at the Austin Convention Center.