D-League Finals and Decisive Game 3 Tonight:

Stampede Win Game Two of NBA Development League Finals
Series heads to deciding Game Three Friday in Idaho

Boise, Idaho – April 25, 2008 - The Idaho Stampede defeated the Austin
Toros 90-89 in Game Two of the NBA Development League Finals presented
by Delta, last night at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho.

With 3,659 fans hoping the Stampede season would be extended to a deciding Game Three, both teams came out sizzling hitting a combined seven straight shots from the
floor.

Idaho’s Roberto Bergersen, who went a combined nine of 32 from the floor
in the post season heading into the night, connected on his first four
shots including a left corner triple which knotted the score at 17 with
just over five and a half minutes to play in the opening quarter.

Austin’s Ian Mahinmi was a towering force for the visitors who were
hoping to clinch the title in front of a handful of their fans who made
the trip from central Texas. The big man on assignment from the San
Antonio Spurs had three blocks in the quarter including one which led to
an Andre Barrett three-pointer, putting Austin up 25-19.

Barrett, who has played on six different NBA teams during his career,
was the driving force for the Toros all night, especially in the first
quarter when he scored 12 points, including a seven-foot jumper from
straight away with 1.5 seconds left. Austin led 33-27 after one.

In the second quarter Josh McRoberts, on assignment from the Portland
Trail Blazers provided the Stampede with energy off the bench in what
developed into a fast-paced, up-tempo game. The former Duke great hit
his first two shots from the field and grabbed four rebounds in the
middle of the quarter.

McRoberts’ fellow super-sub Luke Jackson stepped up as well hitting a
floater in the lane in the midst of a 12-1 Idaho run. Cory Violette also
provided punch for the Stampede with an alley-oop dunk, layup and foul,
and jumper with just over a minute to play in an entertaining first
half.

The teams traded three’s in the final 35 seconds of the second quarter
with Barrett and Randy Livingston hitting for Austin and Idaho, respectively.

At the break Idaho held a 49-45 edge, with Barrett’s 18 points, and 13
from Violette leading their teams.

The third quarter was back and forth with no team able to extend a lead.
The quarter came to a close with an acrobatic coast to coast layup which
Barrett kissed off the glass and fell at the buzzer. Austin led by two
heading into the final quarter – twelve minutes away from the 2008 NBA
D-League title.

The Stampede came out flat in the fourth, but things took a turn for the
better for the home team when Livingston hit a runner in the lane
cutting Austin’s lead to four, with just over eight and half minutes to
play.

Idaho closed the gap to two points when guard Mike Taylor went coast to
coast and finished with a driving layup off an Austin airball.

Barrett and Taylor traded baskets closing the Austin lead to three,
86-83. With 3:21 remaining, Taylor fearlessly drove the ball into the
lane and his layup dropped making the score 86-85.

Jackson was then called for a flagrant foul on a Darvin Ham layup
attempt; and when the NBA veteran banked in his two free throws, Austin
held an 88-85 edge with 2:37 left to play. The free throws extended
Austin’s streak of consecutive second half free throws made to 20.

With 57 seconds left, Jackson hit a floater pulling the Stampede to
within one, 88-87. After a Barrett miss, Violette was fouled with 21.9
seconds left. In a silent arena, Violette hit both shots giving Idaho
the lead, 89-88.

After a timeout, Barrett found teammate Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson in
the left corner, but his shot hit the side of the backboard and went out
of bounds.

Livingston was fouled on the inbounds pass and hit one of two making the
score 90-88 Idaho with 1.3 seconds remaining in the game. Stampede coach
Bryan Gates was then called for a technical foul with 1.3 seconds left
when Austin’s inbounds pass hit Gates’ arm.

Barrett knocked down the free throw, making the score 90-89. Ham then
caught the inbounds pass and launched a fade away jump shot which was
deflected by Idaho’s Brent Petway as the buzzer sounded.

Idaho emerged victorious with a hard-fought victory, 90-89.

Barrett led all scorers with 27 points, while Violette’s 19 points led
four double figure scorers for the Stampede.

The deciding game of the best-of-three series will take place tonight (Friday, April 25) at 9:30 pm ET at Qwest Arena. “If you enjoy basketball, this is the place
to be,” said Gates.

Austin Captures First Game of NBA D-League Finals

Here is the official recap of Game One of the D-League Finals:

AUSTIN, TX – April 21, 2008 - The Austin Toros defeated the Idaho
Stampede 95-89 tonight in Game One of the best-of-three 2008 NBA
Development League Finals presented by Delta, at the Austin
Convention Center.

The Toros brought the 2,299 fans out of their seats in the opening 20
seconds of the contest when Josh Gross put the exclamation point on
an Andre Barrett pass. The alley-oop dunk gave the Toros a 2-0 lead,
their lone advantage until six minutes remained in the half.

Both teams hit on only one of their first five field goal attempts,
until Idaho’s Roberto Bergersen who connected on just 4 of 16 shots
in the Stampede semi-final game victory over the L.A. D-Fenders,
started to heat up. The former Boise State standout hit three first
quarter triples leading the Stampede to a 26-14 lead after the first
12 minutes of the game.

“We came out of the gate rushing at first and Idaho was able to build
a large lead,” said Austin’s Justin Bowen. “We were getting back fast
instead of running our offense.”

In the second stanza, Bergersen went cold, throwing an airball on his
first triple try of the quarter and then missing another three, two
minutes later. But, while Bergersen couldn’t find his stroke,
Austin’s Josh Gross caught fire. The 6-5 forward from UNC –
Greensboro hit a pair of threes in just over a one minute span; the
second from straight away pulling Austin to within one point, 30-29.

Midway through the second quarter Austin found its stride. Andre
Barrett who spent four seasons in the NBA, knifed through the lane
and got the off-balance lefty layup to drop. Bowen who led all
scorers with 25 points, then stole the inbounds pass, slid the ball
to Ian Mahinmi, who threw it down with authority making the score
35-34. “It got our momentum going because we were picking up full
court,” said Andre Barrett. “It got the crowd up.” The sequence gave
the Toros its first lead since 2-0.

At the break Idaho led by two points, 44-42. Bergersen led the
Stampede with 11 points, while Gross and Bowen, who came off the
bench, led the home team with ten apiece.

Idaho came out of the locker room cold, hitting just five of 18 shots
from the floor in the third quarter. And while the Stampede weren’t
hitting their shots (17.6% on three point field goals through three
quarters), the Toros ended the quarter with a pair of three pointers
by hometown basketball hero Kenton Paulino who attended nearby
University of Texas and Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson who connected with
48 seconds left making the score 68-59.

“I think the turning point of the game was when K.P. (Kenton Paulino)
and Squeak (Carldell Johnson) made those big shots,” said Barrett.

Paulino hit a three to begin the final quarter and when Bowen
connected on a left side jumper with 10:36 left, the Toros had
extended their lead to 73-61, their largest of the game to that
point.

Austin’s lead hovered in double digits for most of the quarter but
Cory Violette’s 20th point, a left side jumper drew the visitors to
within seven points with five and a half minutes to play. Johnson
starred late in fourth quarter with a driving layup right through the
teeth of the Stampede defense with 5:09 left; a right side jumper
with 2:37 remaining, and a 12 foot jumper with 1:10 left which put
the game on ice.

The final score was Austin 95 – Idaho 89. Bowen led the way with 25
points, while Darvin Ham, who was a member of the 2004 NBA champion
Detroit Pistons, tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds. Violette led the
Stampede with 20 points.

“It’s big – we’re going to their house, so the pressure is on them at
home,” said Barrett. “For us this win at home was really big. To go
and play away and all you have to do is win one game, that works in
our odds.”

The series moves to Boise, Idaho for Game Two which can be seen
Thursday at 9:30 pm ET on NBA Futurecast (nba.com/futurecast) and NBA
TV. “It’s going to be the hardest game of the series,” said Bowen.
“Idaho is a great team and they have good chemistry.”

PLAYOFF TIME!

NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE SET
Western Division Champion Idaho, Southwestern Division Winner Austin Are Top Seeds


The Idaho Stampede and the Austin Toros have secured the top seeds and a bye in the opening round of the 2008 NBA Development League Playoffs presented by Delta. The D-League playoffs will begin on Tuesday, April 15, in Bismarck and Los Angeles.

The first round of the 2008 D-League Playoffs will see the third seeded Dakota Wizards hosting the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the sixth seed, at the Bismarck Civic Center while the fourth seeded Los Angeles D-Fenders will host the fifth seeded Colorado 14ers at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. Both games will take place on Tuesday, April 15.

The second round kicks off on Friday, April 18 when the Stampede hosts the winner of the Colorado/Los Angeles game in Boise, ID. Second round games continue on Saturday, April 19 when the Sioux Falls/Dakota winner will travel to Austin.

The winners of the second round games will play a best-of-three Finals that will begin at the lower seeded team and travel to the higher seeded team for game two and three, if necessary. Fans can watch the D-League Playoffs and Finals by logging onto www.d-league.com/watch to see all the games streamed live, for free, on NBA Futurecast.


2008 NBA Development League Playoffs and Finals presented by Delta
First Round:
April 15 – Colorado @ Los Angeles, 6:30 p.m. ET
April 15 – Sioux Falls @ Dakota, 8:00 p.m. ET

Second Round:
April 18 – Winner of Colorado/Los Angeles @ Idaho, 9:30 p.m. ET
April 19 – Winner of Sioux Falls/Dakota @ Austin, 8:00 p.m. ET

Finals:
Game 1 – Date/Location TBD
Game 2 – Date/Location TBD
Game 3 (if necessary) – Date/Location TBD

Austin's Marcus Williams named Performer of the Week

NEW YORK - Marcus Williams of the Austin Toros was named D-League.com Performer of the Week for games played during the week of March 3. Williams averaged 32.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists, while shooting 26-of-39 (.666) from the field, and is the first Toro to earn the honor this season.

The rookie forward recorded double-doubles in both of Austin's games for the week, scoring a season-high 33 points on Saturday in a win over Albuquerque.

Williams is averaging 18.1 points and 6.7 points in 29 games for the Toros this season and earned the season's sixth GATORADE Call-Up from the San Antonio Spurs.

Other top performers in the D-League last week included Dakota's Blake Ahearn, who scored 45 points and dished out nine assists, while shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range in Sunday's win over Fort Wayne; Sioux Falls' David Bailey, who averaged 30.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists in two games; Rod Benson, who scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Dakota on Sunday; Bakersfield's Mateen Cleaves, who averaged 19.5 points, 12.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds in two games, including a 21-assist game on Sunday; Albuquerque's Julius Hodge, who averaged 30.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in two games; and Kasib Powell, who averaged 35.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games for Sioux Falls.