INDIANAPOLIS – In a rematch of December’s Showcase Cup title game, Indiana hosted Westchester Saturday night for Marvel Super Hero Night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the Knicks picking up a 114-113 win. Jacob Toppin led all scorers with 32 points for the Knicks and Charlie Brown Jr. adding 28.
FIRST QUARTER
Westchester pushed out to a 4-0 run before a Kyle Mangas putback 90 seconds in got Indiana on the board. The Knicks would lead by as many as six before the Mad Ants pushed back on the hands of Kendall Brown, who hit 4 of his first 6 shots. A Pedro Bradshaw three with 2:45 to play in the first pushed the Mad Ants lead to 29-20, added to on the next possession by an uncontested fast break dunk for Jordan Bell. By the end of the first quarter, the Indiana lead had ballooned to 41-27.
SECOND QUARTER
With 3:40 remaining in the second, a massive Walker dunk against a defender put Indiana up 62-47. The Mad Ants and Knicks continued to trade baskets for much of the second quarter, the Knicks getting last possession of the opening half but Craig Sword drew a charge from Jamal Bey with 3.4 seconds remaining. At the half, Indiana led 65-53.
THIRD QUARTER
With 10:10 to play in the third, a surging Knicks squad got a basket from Brandon Goodwin that cut Indiana’s lead to 69-61 and forced a timeout. The Knicks came out of the timeout with a steal and Jacob Toppin basket to cut the Mad Ant lead again. Westchester would get within four twice but with 7:32 left in the quarter, a Mangas triple made it 74-67 in Indiana’s favor. With 4:30 to play in the third and Indiana leading by nine, Toppin’s corner three cut into the Mad Ants advantage. With 2:20 remaining in the third, a Jaren Wilson-Frame three gave Westchester an 82-81 lead after trailing by as many as 19. After three however, Indiana led 87-82.
FOURTH QUARTER
Westchester answered big to start the fourth quarter, pushing ahead by four, which was finally answered by Isaiah Wong with 8:50 to play. With 7:40 to go, a Brown free throw for the Mad Ants ended a minute-plus stalemate with Indiana regaining the lead at 95-93. Charlie Brown Jr. would give Westchester the lead back at 96-95 with a three pointer and Indiana wouldn’t be able to get over the hump again until 3:12’s Jarace Walker’s three pointer to tie the game at 104 and Jordan Bell’s three at 2:30 to take a 107-106 lead. With 1:21 to play, Walker found a baseline cutting Brown for an alley oop to again put the Mad Ants up, now at 109-108. Jaylen Martin responded for the Knicks at the free throw line, with Bell scoring again for Indiana the next possession of the see saw game. That game would exchange the lead 3 more times, with Toppin’s basket at 12.3 seconds being the final score of the game.
Kendall Brown tied a career high with 30 points for Indiana, followed by 20 from Jarace Walker. Behind Toppin and Brown, Jaylen Martin added 20 points. The teams will meet again Monday with a 6 p.m. tip at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Originally posed on gleague.nba.com