After taking down the Wisconsin Herd the night before, the Delaware Blue Coats (7-4) fulfilled their season-long quest of sweeping a back-to-back on Saturday, Jan. 27 with a 107-102 nail-biting win over the Herd (6-8).
“There was some relief, to be honest with you,” Head Coach Mike Longabardi said. “I didn’t bring it up this time but I have brought it up before, and I figured that it wasn’t working so we didn’t mention it until after the game. I don’t know if that worked or not, that may be superstition.”
The Coats were once again without two-way stars Ricky Council IV and Terquavion Smith, who were up with the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as Kenneth Lofton Jr., leaving it up to the rest of the team to make up for the missing 72.5 points per game combined between the three players.
“I’m happy for them,” Marcus Bagley said. “Ricky’s been playing well and Terq’s been playing well also, so I’m happy they’re getting an opportunity up there, but down here, it’s a next man up mentality so I’m glad we were able to get a few wins with those guys out.”
No one displayed that next-man-up mentality better than Jeff Dowtin Jr., as he filled the void with a season-high 32 points on 11-16 shooting and 5-8 from beyond the arc, including a huge pull-up three to tie the game at 99 with under 90 seconds left.
“I just think he’s getting his rhythm back, that’s the number one thing,” Longabardi said. “Obviously when he came back he had a minute restriction, and each game he’s getting better and better. He’s shooting the ball better and he’s getting more comfortable.”
The Coats pulled away from that point forward after clutch free throws from Dowtin Jr. and Darius Bazley, giving us the game’s 20th and final lead change of the night.
Bazley poured in a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, but his defensive impact was the most important thing for the Coats on Saturday, as the newly named G-League All-Star had two huge blocks in the paint with less than two minutes left to keep the game within reach and send Chase Fieldhouse into a frenzy.
“I feel like defensively we’re getting better,” Longabardi said. “The last I looked we were ranked seventh in the league since the reset, so you’re going to take those numbers and as long as we close it out like we did, I think our defense won the game at the end and got some pivotal stops.”
Shots in the paint were a common occurrence for the Herd, especially with Lofton Jr. out, as 39 of their 84 total field goal attempts came from inside, leading to 44 points in the paint. On the flip side, Delaware struggled to finish some looks around the rim, as they finished with just 32 points inside the painted area.
“Shots weren’t falling, I can speak for myself, I got to the paint a couple of times and couldn’t finish but you got to find other ways to affect the game, so try to do the best I can and play hard and make sure my energy is there,” Bagley said.
The Blue Coats will look to build off the back-to-back sweep on Wednesday, Jan. 31, when they travel down to Kissimmee, Florida, to take on the Osceola Magic.
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