The Austin Toros came back from a 0-1 deficit to win the 2012 D-League title against the Los Angeles D-Fenders. The Toros won Game 2 and the deciding Game 3 in Los Angeles.

The D-Fenders had the league’s best record followed by the Toros, who were a third seed.

Springfield had the second seed. Expansion Canton beat the Armor in the first round.

The Toros began their championship run with a 2-1 series victory against fifth-seeded Erie. In fact, Austin lost Game 1 of all three of its series only to win the the final two games of each one.

The Cleveland Cavaliers put Luke Harangody’s mind, body and spirit to the test – and Jay Larranaga loved it.

The Erie BayHawks coach applauded Harangody for playing four games in as many days with three being for the Canton Charge in the 2012 D-League playoffs.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “I think it’s a credit to Luke. The kind of player he is and the kind of professional he is that he was able to do that. That he played at a high level in all four games and helped his team get a win in three of the games including the game he played for the Cavs. The kid deserves so much credit.”

The Cavs recalled the former Notre Dame star up today before Cleveland plays the Philadelphia 76ers tonight at Quicken Loans Arena. In his game with Cleveland, Haranagody had 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-89 home win against Washington.

The Cavs had recalled Harangody the second time April 14th and sent him back down the Charge the next day for Game 2 of their best-of-3 series at second-seeded Springfield.

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Here’s Erie BayHawks coach Jay Larranaga and guards D.J. Kennedy and Keith McLeod talking about their playoff chances with three games left in the D-League regular season.

Currently holding the seventh spot in the D-League playoff chase, the BayHawks (26-21) play Springfield (27-20) at Tullio Arena tomorrow night at 7 and take on Canton in their final regular-season games. They play the expansion Charge on Friday in their regular-season home finale and Saturday at Canton.

Erie is just a game behind Springfield for the top spot in the East Conference.

Got to give them credit.

The Erie BayHawks could have folded tonight, but they took Springfield out in the fourth quarter to prevail, 107-90.

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The home of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Mass., is now the location of the D-League's latest expansion franchise.

For now, the D-League looks as if it’s going to have 17 teams for next season. The league has added two franchises in Springfield, Mass., and Portland, Maine, but a current team – the Anaheim Arsenal – is relocating to Springfield.

So our sports department intern, Eric Peddigree, and I took a moment to see what would be the best way to divide the league up. So we printed out a map of the United States and began to go to work on it.

“All I need is a piece of paper,” Eric said.

I provided the pen. It wasn’t that hard. The D-League probably already got it figured out, but just in case it doesn’t, Eric and I wanted to help the league out.

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