Colorado 114, Austin 111

DENVER – April 18, 2009 – The Colorado 14ers overcame an 11 point fourth quarter deficit to take a 114-111 win over the Austin Toros in the NBA Development League semi-finals at the Broomfield Event Center Saturday night. Colorado finished the game on a 23-10 run in the final 7:45 to advance to the D-League Finals for the second time in three seasons. The 14ers will meet the winner of Monday’s Dakota Wizards – Utah Flash match-up in the D-League Championship Series.

Denver Nuggets assigned player Sonny Weems led the Colorado comeback, scoring 14 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. Weems tied the game at 103 with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 5:32 to play, and gave the 14ers the lead for good on a fast break dunk with 4:36 remaining. He then connected on four free throws in the final 15 seconds to ice the win for the 14ers.

Colorado overcame a monster effort from the Toros big three of Marcus Williams, Malik Hairston, and Dwayne Jones. Williams had a triple-double with 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. Hairston poured in a game-high 37 points on 15-24 shooting, and Jones added 24 on 12-15 from the field in the loss.

“They’re a heck of a team and to come back from 11 down shows you what kind of team we have,” said 14ers Head Coach Bob MacKinnon. “This was a total team effort, and I’m so proud of how we played as a team.”

Austin outscored Colorado 70-34 in the paint, but was only able to convert one field goal in the lane in the final 9:00 of the game. Meanwhile, the 14ers connected on their first four attempts from 3-point range en route to a 12-22 night from behind the arc in the win.

Eddie Gill led Colorado’s sharp-shooting effort, going 4-6 from three and scoring 23 points to go along with seven assists. Billy Thomas added 16 points in knocking down 2-3 from downtown in the win.

Austin season comes to an end after posting a 32-18 record in the regular season and winning an opening round playoff game over Idaho. Colorado now improves to 2-0 in the post-season and 36-16 overall. The 14ers await the winner of Monday’s Dakota-Utah game in the D-League Finals that will begin next week at a date and time to be determined. The Finals will be a best two out of three series beginning on the road for Colorado, with games two and three at the Broomfield Event Center if necessary.