Hot Stars Propels No. 6 Blue Coats To Playoff Win Over No. 3 Mad Ants

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – April 2, 2024 – Delaware started hot and rode their momentum to a first round G League playoff win over Indiana, 123-101, on Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Blue Coats will advance in the NBA G League Playoffs to play in the Eastern Conference Semi Final game at the Maine Celtics on Thursday, April 2 with a 7:00 p.m. eastern tipoff.

Delaware controlled the opening quarter by going 7-of-9 from three-point range and jumping out to a 17-point lead. The Blue Coats finished the quarter up 45-30.

Indiana rallied early in the second, cutting the deficit to just seven with Craig Sword coming up big for the Mad Ants in the quarter. He ended the half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. After Indiana cut the deficit to seven, the Blue Coats went on a 12-0 run however to push back ahead by 19 points. The Mad Ants matched Delaware step for step before a Jarron Cumberland three-quarter court heavy to beat the first half buzzer.

Delaware led 66-48 at the halftime break.

Indiana used seven quick points from Kyle Mangas in the third to cut back into the Blue Coat lead. But again Delaware had the answer and the lead ballooned to 23 points with three pointers continuing to fall. With 3:23 left in the third, a successful challenge of an out of bounds call by Delaware led to a foul and Cumberland pushing the Blue Coats lead to 88-66 at the free throw line. A Terquavion Smith corner three in front of the Mad Ants bench with 1:11 left in the quarter pushed it back to 93-71. After three quarters, Delaware led 95-73.

Kendall Brown opened the fourth with a three pointer for Indiana followed up by Cameron McGriff taking a charge on the other end for the Mad Ants. Indiana didn’t take advantage of the extra possession and a Jeff Dowtin three with 10:01 left in the game made it 98-76 in Delaware’s favor. The teams exchanged baskets the next several possessions until the Mad ants got back-to-back baskets from Elfrid Payton and Brown to cut it down to 100-83 with 9:09 to play.

After a timeout, Nelson Frazier knocked down a three for Delaware but Brown answered with one of his own to keep Indiana thriving. The Mad Ants cut it to 16 with 5:55 to play on a Mangas and-one, 111-95, but Indiana could never get closer in the final minutes of the game.

Kendall Brown led all scorers for Indiana with 28 points, followed by 20 from Kyle Mangas while Elfrid Payton had 13 assists. The Blue Coats were paced by 28 points from Ricky Council and 24 each from Melvin Frazier and Jeff Dowtin.