INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana and Capital City got together Tuesday afternoon for the first of a back-to-back series, with Indiana winning 122-110 behind a triple double of 14 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists from Elfrid Payton. The triple double is the 13th in franchise history as Payton joins Jordan Bell, Naz Mitrou-Long and Walker Russell as Mad Ants with multiple triple doubles in the same season. The Mad Ants shot 52.7 percent from the field to Capital City’s 45.6.
FIRST QUARTER
The Go-Go opened up on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a Johnny Davis layup on the fast break. Indiana would end the early scoring streak with a pair of Kyle Mangas baskets, but Capital City would continue to push, going up 11-4 on a Jared Butler score. Indiana went on a 5-0 run out of their first time out with a Kendall Brown three pointer pushing that run, but Capital City answered back with a Michael Foster Jr. dunk to maintain control. A Diallo basket at 4:06 extended Capital City’s lead to 26-15. After one, the Go-Go led 33-19 after shooting 71.4 percent in the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
The second quarter started even with a Mangas three pointer helping Indiana get going early in the quarter. But three minutes in, only 11 total points had been scored with Capital City still holding the edge, 39-24. With 7:18 back-to-back Mangas three pointers cut the Go-Go lead to 41-32. Indiana cut their deficit to 50-48 shortly before halftime and tied it with 1:21 left on a Brown basket off the assist from Isaiah Wong. After another defensive stop, Wong gave Indiana their first lead with less than a minute to play in the first half, 52-50. At the half, Indiana led 54-52 after trailing by as many as 20 points in the opening 24 minutes.
THIRD QUARTER
Indiana would lead by four with 9:34 to play in the third on a Craig Sword basket coming off a steal from Oscar Tshiebwe, matching their biggest lead of the game to that point before Jared Butler cut it back down on the other end for Capital City. The Mad Ants pushed their lead to double digits and with 4:40 to play in the quarter, Wong pushed it to 72-60. With 2:33 to play, a Diallo basket off a steal cut the Go-Go deficit to 76-69. After three, Indiana held onto a 79-71 advantage.
FOURTH QUARTER
The start of the fourth quarter was a lot of back and forth, then with 8:20 to play in the final quarter, a Taylor Funk three pointer cut Capital City’s deficit to 93-84. With 5:14 to play, a Mangas corner three pushed the Indiana lead to 103-86. Behind Payton, Mangas scored 30 points to lead Indiana in scoring with Kendall Brown adding 25 points and Tshiebwe posting a 14 point, 15 assist double double. Jordan Bell had five blocks, tying the franchise record with most games of five or more blocks with six. Capital City was led by 30 points from Jared Butler, followed by 16 from Jules Bernard.
Originally posted on gleague.nba.com