With the NBA G League Playoffs tipping off this upcoming week, many of the league’s teams concluded their regular season this past weekend.
The Delaware Blue Coats was one of those teams, as they picked up a final regular-season win against the Wisconsin Herd 132-114 on Saturday, April 2. This marked the Coats’ second win against the Herd in back-to-back nights.
Similar to many of their games this season, the game started off tight in the first quarter. While the lead only changed twice in the first frame, Delaware escaped that period up just 32-31. Blue Coats’ center Charles Bassey kicked off his big night with ten points and six rebounds in the first 12 minutes of action.
The second and third quarters, however, were when the Coats began to pull away. At halftime, they extended their lead to 76-60. While the Herd tried to come out of halftime and cut the lead down, Delaware did the opposite and built it up even more. By the end of the third, they were up by 30 points, 106-76.
Guard Myles Powell, who has been one of the breakout stars for the Blue Coats this season, finished the game with 20 points off of the bench. While he and many of his teammates had big victories in the game, he credited his “big man” when asked about what boosted their offensive production after the first quarter.
“Charles Bassey,” Powell said. “He damn near had 40 [points] and 20 [rebounds] tonight. He was very dominant and has been like that the past two games. [Head Coach Coby Karl] was calling the right plays, and we knew that he got us that lead.”
Bassey ended the game with 37 points and 21 rebounds. In back-to-back nights against the Herd over the weekend, he tallied 70 total points. With the playoffs on the horizon, Bassey’s teammates are going to be relying on him to continue his dominance.
“For us to make a playoff run, we are going to need that same Charles,” Powell said.
While the team’s star center was certainly the center of attention in this game, the whole team brought energy from the start to finish. Even when they were up as much as 33 points in the fourth quarter, they continued to shoot the rock while the bench cheered every play.
“We are going to have to have that energy going into the playoffs,” Delaware’s guard Shaquille Harrison said. “We wanted to end on a high note, go out and do what we do.”
Delaware certainly did that, as the victory gave them their fourth win in the last five regular-season games.
The Coats will begin their playoff run this Tuesday, April 5, against the Long Island Nets. The game will be played at home in the Chase Fieldhouse at 8 p.m.
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