AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 28, 2005 -- The Austin Toros overcame a poor shooting first half to secure a 114-107 win against the Tulsa 66ers. The Toros, who trailed by nine points at the half, outscored the 66ers 67-51 over the final two quarters for just their second home win of the season.

“We needed this game bad,” said Toros guard Ramel Curry, who scored a season-high 27 points. “The coaches had been pressing us pretty bad the last couple of days about playing better at home. We came together and came out with the intensity that we needed to pick up a win.”

Tulsa opened a seven-point lead the first ten minutes of the game by shooting a blistering 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the field.

Austin had trouble finding the range during the same span, knocking down just seven of its first 20 shots (35 percent).  But Toros forward Marcus Fizer helped Austin to remain close by going 5-of-5 for 11 points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Tulsa used some hot shooting from beyond the arc to build its lead to 51-38 with a little more than two minutes left in the half. The 66ers held complete control of the game until midway through the third quarter when Curry knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Toros their first lead at 72-70.

Austin would never relinquish the lead the rest of the way as Tulsa committed 27 turnovers to help Austin hold on.

“You’ll never beat a team this good committing that many turnovers,” said Tulsa head coach Joey Meyer. “Also, we gave them 19 offensive rebounds. Any time you give a team that many second chances, it’s going to be hard to win.”

Lucas, who made 4-of-4 treys in the first half, and Ersan Illyasova, who sank all three of his long-range attempts before halftime, spearheaded the long-range assault by the 66ers.  

Curry shot 9-of-16, Marcus Fizer chipped in with 25 points and ten rebounds while Ezra Williams added 18 points.

Tulsa was paced by John Lucas’ 30 points on 6-of-6 from beyond the three-point line. Torraye Braggs added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

The Toros and the 66ers will meet again on Friday.