by WHITE PLAINS, New York – The Westchester Knicks (9-29), the official NBA Development League affiliate of the New York Knickerbockers, lost a hard-fought game to the Maine Red Claws (26-11), the Boston Celtics’ affiliate, falling 114-105 at the Westchester County Center.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the game, the two teams trading leads five times with three ties. It was a namesake showing for Westchester center Ben Strong who racked up 10 points in the first quarter to lead all scorers, highlighted by back-to-back turnaround jumpers.
After trailing to start the second, Westchester found themselves on the right side of the score in the second after taking the lead at 6:53 with a jump shot from Darnell Jackson. A turnaround fade-away from Durrell Summers with .09 seconds on the clock gave the Knicks a final push heading into the half, with Westchester heading to the locker room leading the Red Claws 61-51.
Westchester held on to the lead for the entire third quarter, taking a 13 point advantage off a steal followed up with two made free throws from Knicks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Maine took off on a 7-0 run to close the gap, six points coming from guard Tim Frazier. The Red Claws went into the fourth trailing by three.
Maine clawed their way back into the lead with 9:25 on the clock in the fourth off a made three from Chris Babb. Westchester would be unable to recover, hitting just 6-of-23 shots in the final quarter. Though it looked for a good portion of the game that they would secure the win, the Knicks eventually fell to the Red Claws by nine, losing the game 114-105.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Ben Strong (Red Lake Tribal Nation) each posted a team-high 21 points, Antetokounmpo securing the double-double with 11 rebounds and putting up an impressive four blocks. Darnell Jackson finished with 15 points, adding seven rebounds and two assists. Coming off the bench, Andre Barrett contributed 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
Omari Johnson paced the Red Claws with 25 points, posting a double-double with his 12 rebounds. Romero Osby and Tim Frazier each added 17 points, Frazier pulling off the double-double with a staggering 14 assists, making up half of the team’s total assists. Andre Stringer contributed 14 points with six rebounds.
The Westchester Knicks are back at the Westchester County Center tomorrow, March 7, hosting a special jersey night as the team takes on the Delaware 87ers, the Philadelphia 76ers’ affiliate, at7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on MSG 2, YouTube, and AM 1230 WFAS.
