Good Marksmanship Pays off Again for Skyforce over Bighorns
Hot shooting for the Sioux Falls Skyforce coupled with a Reno Bighorns slump caused the disparity as the home team prevailed 129-104 at the Sanford Pentagon on Friday night.
For the second straight game Sioux Falls (18-17) hit a majority of their shots overall (48-95) and were proficient from beyond the arc (20-46). Over the past two games the ‘Force have connected on 45 three-point shots on a combined 96 attempts.
Guard Briante Weber (14 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals) credited the coaching staff with establishing a green light for launching from the outside.
“They’re doing a great job of giving us the confidence just to knock it down. Coach Smith, AC and Kasib remind us that nobody is going to take us off of shooting our shot. We’re just stepping in and shooting it with confidence and when you have that (mindset) you’ll be effective.”
Head coach Nevada Smith says the team has adapted to their personnel which lends to a more perimeter-oriented game.
“The way we’re built, we’re never going to pound teams in the paint. We’re never going to outscore teams 60-20 down low. We’ve got to win that battle by a little bit (52-46 tonight) or try to keep it close and win the other battles.”
Going a long way toward winning that interior struggle was forward Kadeem Jack who had 22 points with 12 rebounds. Other noteworthy performances involved Larry Drew II’s 21 points and 12 assists, Tony Mitchell’s 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists plus Matt Williams, Jr. who hit 4 of 5 from long range to finish with 14 points.
Reno (20-15) had six players in double figures led by 20 points and 9 rebounds for Matt Jones while David Stockton scored 17. Luis Montero scored a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds for the visitors who will be back at the Pentagon Saturday night for another round.
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