On Thursday, the Tbirds will face the Austin Toros for the second time this season. In their last meeting, the Tbirds fell to the Toros 102 – 124. Blake Ahearn, who scored 17 pts in their last meeting, has been waived by the Toros for the next game against Albuquerque on December 18th.

The Tbirds played a hard-fought game against the Toros last week. Monds, Noel, Underwood, Clack, Conroy and Johnson all scored more than 10 pts during the game. Noel and Conroy were tied as the top scorers with 22 pts each. Jasper Johnson, who played his first game as a Tbird, had a double-double with 17 pts and 10 rbs.

The School House Jam Program has two games this season, one this Thursday, December 18 and the second on Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30am against the Iowa Energy. As part of this educational day out, each student that attends the game will leave with a booklet, provided by Newspapers in Education and the Albuquerque Journal that includes educational activities on math, geography and spelling. Students attending are being rewarded for their hard work in the classroom.

Corporations or individuals interested in becoming a sponsor, or schools interested in attending, the March 10th School House Jam game, should contact the Tbirds at 505.265.3865 (DUNK).

The Tbirds’ next home games, before the New Year, are on Friday, December 19th and Friday, December 26th. Both games start at 7:00pm and will be played at the Tingley Coliseum at EXPO NM. Come see NBA Basketball in Albuquerque and call 505.265.3865 (DUNK) for tickets. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.abqtbirds.com.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league, and the first-ever basketball league with direct affiliations to NBA teams. Having recently completed its seventh season, the NBA D-League’s goals are to provide affordable, NBA-caliber entertainment to fans of its 16 teams, as well as continue to develop players, coaches, referees and front-office personnel for the NBA. As the single source for in-season player "call-ups" to the NBA, fans of the D-League enjoy the highest caliber of basketball played outside the NBA. In fact 15 percent of players on 2008 end-of-season NBA rosters spent time honing their skills in the League. In addition, it has produced current NBA coaches and 25 percent of the NBA’s referees. The NBA D-League is an innovative and rapidly growing sports property that also serves as an experimental testing ground for new initiatives like NBA Futurecast, the live web-streaming of all games available free at nba.com/futurecast. The League also provides continuing education and professional development resources for its players, and is committed to serving its local communities through D-LEAGUE CARES and grassroots efforts.

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