You Won't Believe This

[GreenBat]

Mascot fiasco caps Toros' win

Da Bull gets technical for hanging on rim.

By William Wilkerson

AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT

Thursday, January 25, 2007

James White tried to hide his smile behind his jersey, but it didn't do much good.

P.J. Tucker's Colorado 14ers were down four points with 0.4 seconds left in the game, but Tucker and several of his teammates were cracking up.

In an elevator afterward, players from both the 14ers and the Austin Toros were still trying to fathom what had just happened.

Did Austin's mascot, Da Bull, just receive a technical foul for hanging on the rim at the end of regulation play?

Does a bull see red?

Loren Woods had just dunked a ball with less than five seconds to go to give Austin a 101-97 lead. When Colorado reached the other end of the court, Da Bull was waiting for them, on the rim.

Time expired, but the referees gathered and decided to assess the mascot a technical. Colorado made the resulting free throw, and the refs put 0.4 seconds back on the clock. Luckily for Da Bull, the 14ers missed their desperation three-point attempt, and Austin survived to win 101-98 Wednesday afternoon at the Convention Center.

"Who's going to pay that bull's fine?" Toros coach Dennis Johnson joked before the technical free throw.

Things grew more embarrassing for Da Bull when he lost his mascot head as he dropped to the court in a scramble to avoid the oncoming Colorado players.

"Now everyone knows who the mascot is," Johnson said with a laugh.

Less amused, Toros officials announced a few hours after the game that Da Bull — whom team officials declined to identify — was suspended for two games and assigned to perform 50 hours of community service.

"I've never seen that in all my years of basketball, and I hope I never do again," said Johnson, who played in the NBA for 14 seasons from 1976-90.

On the court, the D-League game was back and forth in the final quarter.

With the score tied at 96 and 1 minute to play, Eric Osmundson had an opportunity to give Colorado (15-8) the lead, but he missed a point-blank layup.

From there, Woods made three free throws and blocked a shot to semi-secure Austin's victory. The 7-foot-2-inch Woods had 12 points and 14 rebounds.

B.J. Elder led the Toros with 20 points while White added 17.

Cheyne Gadson scored eight points and had six assists in his debut with the Toros (8-16), who won their third straight.

Tucker, a 6-7 forward, finished with four points and three rebounds. The former Texas Longhorn was a second-round NBA draft pick of Toronto in the spring.

The Raptors assigned him to Colorado, one of their NBA Development League affiliates, about three weeks ago.

On Wednesday, he witnessed a strange, head-shaking sight as a young pro. As did Johnson, the old pro.

"The guys played well and worked hard for that win," Johnson said of his team.

"I'm glad that (incident with Da Bull) wasn't the deciding factor in the outcome of the game."