INDIANAPOLIS – Two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference tipped off the post All-Star weekend playoff push on Thursday with Indiana taking a 131-124 overtime victory over College Park. Pedro Bradshaw hit three free throws in overtime to close out the game. Indiana is now 3-0 in overtime games this season. The Mad Ants shot 57.6 percent from the field to College Park’s 47.8.
FIRST QUARTER
Indiana opened the game with quick baskets to go up 8-4, including a couple of at the rim finishes from Pedro Bradshaw. At the 5:10 mark of the first, a Kyle Mangas three pointer pushed Indiana’s lead to 18-14. With 1:13 remaining, Bradshaw hit his third shot in as many attempts, then registered a steal on the other end, pushing it ahead for a Craig Sword basket to put Indiana up 30-25. After one, Indiana held a 32-25 lead.
SECOND QUARTER
With 10:10 left in the second quarter, a Kendall Brown dunk pushed Indiana’s lead to 37-27 before College Park’s Vit Krejci responded on the other end with a dunk of his own to stall the Mad Ants’ run. Mojave King and Brandon Randolph exchanged baskets next, but Indiana was able to get to the free throw line at 8:23 to push their lead to 46-31 on the hands of Darius McGhee. The Skyhawks ended a 4-0 Mad Ants run at the 5:34 mark on a Miles Norris putback dunk, followed on the other end with a Seth Lundy blocked shot that led to Atlanta Hawks assignment player AJ Griffin knocking down a three pointer to make it 52-42, still in Indiana’s favor. College Park advanced their run to 7-0 on a Chris Silva basket before Kendall Brown’s three with 4:25 left in the half broke that streak of Skyhawk points. At the halftime break, Indiana led College Park 69-55.
THIRD QUARTER
Lundy opened up the second half with a College Park three pointer and then a basket off a backdoor cut to cut Indiana’s lead to 69-60. With 8:10 left in the third, a Lundy triple cut the Indiana lead to 75-69. College Park had a chance to cut the Indiana lead under five near the seven-minute mark but came up empty with Isaiah Wong converting on the other end for the Mad Ants. With 6:35 to go, a Sword fast break basket from Brown pushed the Mad Ant lead back to double digits at 81-71. College Park took the lead with 49.3 seconds left on a David Singleton three pointer and led 96-94 after three.
FOURTH QUARTER
With 9:56 to play in the game, an and-one from Bradshaw cut into the lead that the Skyhawks had built, pulling Indiana to within one at 102-101 and an Oscar Tshiebwe second chance basket on the next possession gave Indiana the lead back. College Park would again take over the game, going up 108-103 on a Tyson Etienne three pointer with Indiana tying it back up on a McGhee basket with 4:49 left at 110-110. The game continued to seesaw with a Mangas three at 2:51 giving the Mad Ants a 117-117 lead before Ron Baker matched it with a three ball of his own on the next College Park possession. A Brown dunk and Mangas layup gave Indiana a 121-117 lead answered by a Jordan Bowden three and with 1:10 to play, Etienne scored on a fast break to make it 122-121 in the Skyhawks favor. Brown’s free throws with 58.1 seconds left pushed Indiana ahead 123-122 but Chris Silva bullied his way to the rim to take the lead back. Bradshaw hit one of two free throws with 21.2 seconds left to force overtime.
OVERTIME
In overtime, with a target score of 131, Indiana struck first on a pair of Isaiah Wong free throws, then a basket at the rim from Tshiebwe to go up 128-124. Bradshaw was then fouled on a three-point attempt and went to the free throw line where he hit all three to end the game.
Brown finished with 25 points for Indiana to lead seven in double figures. Tshiebwe posted his 16th double double of the season with 20 points and 16 rebounds while Bradshaw scored 18, Wong had 15, Mangas scored 14, McGhee had 12 and Will Vorhees scored 11 points. Lundy led all scorers with 29 points for College Park, while Silva added 21 and Krejci scored 17.
Originally posted on gleague.nba.com