Hungry Pack of Iowa Wolves Top Skyforce

A division rivalry game that switched from a see-saw battle early to a one track conclusion as the Iowa Wolves topped the Sioux Falls Skyforce 112-101 on Tuesday night at the Sanford Pentagon.

It’s possible that the Skyforce were victims of their early success. Coach Nevada Smith says that a lot of things decayed in the second half which erased a good start.

“(Early on) we were talking, we were energetic, the shots were good shots and we were playing hard on both ends of the floor. Then our lack of effort (later) allowed them to go on a run. We just put our heads between our legs and that was it. We didn’t want to play anymore, our effort level was terrible, our shot selection might have been worse and our pace of the game on both (ends of the floor) was just awful.”

Derrick Jones, Jr. who is on a two-way contract with Miami agrees that things went so well early, there was no desire to improve.

“I think we got complacent with that 14-point lead. We settled and we thought that was good enough. It’s never always good enough. It was just the first half and there was still another half (to go). This was a learning experience that you can’t go out there and get complacent (expecting to) win games. We have to go out there and play your hardest throughout the whole game.”

Jones, Jr. led Sioux Falls with 23 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Derrick Walton, Jr. compiled a 19-point, 12-assist effort in a losing cause.

For Iowa, Anthony Brown finished with 22 points and Melo Trimble scored 20 points. Both teams will have the Oklahoma City Blue as their next opponent. Iowa will play in OKC on Wednesday while Sioux Falls will host the Blue on Friday.

See Also: