NAZ Suns claim 1st win against Spurs, remain in playoff hunt

NBA G League

Goodwin scores 22 points; Suns over .500 for 1st time since Nov. 13

Archie Goodwin scored 22 points, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson narrowly missed a double-double and the Northern Arizona Suns won their fourth straight game with a 117-105 upset over Austin on Sunday afternoon.

It is the first victory against the Spurs in team history for the Suns (20-19), which have won seven of eight contests and are now 1.5 games back of the Reno Bighorns (21-17) for a Western Conference playoff spot.

Alec Peters added 21 points on five 3-pointers, while Mike Young added 14 points and three assists in 16 minutes off the bench. Goodwin was 7 of 13 from the field, including a 7 for 9 mark from the free-throw line and had seven assists and seven rebounds.

Hollis-Jefferson had 17 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes played.

It is the first time the Suns have been over .500 since Nov. 13 (2-1).

The Western Conference-best Spurs (25-16) jumped out to a 22-6 lead with 4:30 left in the first quarter after Northern Arizona made only two of their first 14 shots in Prescott Valley on Sunday.

In the third quarter, Northern Arizona grabbed a 55-50 lead and used a 17-6 run from that point on to lead by as many as 22 and never trailed again.

Jaron Blossomgame led Austin with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Darrun Hilliard scored 18 points, Derrick White added 17 and Livio Jean-Charles grabbed nine rebounds and scored 14 in just 22 minutes off the bench.

Austin shot just 19.4 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 31), but turned the ball over just 11 times. The Suns shot 48.3 percent from the field and outrebounded the Spurs 49-45.

SHAQ IN PHOENIX

On Feb. 21, the Phoenix Suns called up Shaquille Harrison and signed him to a 10-day contract. He is the fourth Northern Arizona player to be called up by the team’s parent club all-time, the third this season. Isaiah Canaan and Josh Gray are the other two this year.

Gray was released by Phoenix earlier this week, and rejoined the Suns in Prescott Valley just in time to score a career-high and team-record 42 points in a 135-116 win at Texas on Friday night.

UP NEXT

Northern Arizona remains in the playoff hunt with 11 games to go, eight of which come at the Prescott Valley Event Center. The Suns host Reno on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. is sports editor for The Daily Courier. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @SportsWriter52, or on Facebook at @SportsAboveTheFold. Email bbergner@prescottaz.com or call 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.