.png)
The first win along a four-game road trip ended a three-game skid for the NBA G League Ignite recently.
This year’s developmental group beat the College Park Skyhawks, 130-113, Thursday, March 9 from the Gateway Center Arena in the third game of a four-game excursion. The Ignite are now 3-5 in the second half of back-to-backs.
Overall, the Ignite are now 10-16 on the year with six games remaining in the regular season with one more game to go on this road trip. That final game will be played Sunday, March 12 against the Texas Legends with tip-off scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Last month, the Ignite dropped a game to the Legends by 18 points.
Veteran guard John Jenkins scored 12 of his 29 points in the first quarter as the Ignite had an early spark to catapult them to a double-digit win. He finished with an 11-for-19 shooting mark to go along with four made threes.
Led by Jenkins’ shooting, the Ignite went on an early 13-2 run to take a first quarter lead, its first lead of the game. That was just the start of what would be a dominant first half for the Ignite as the team took the second quarter over the Skyhawks, 48-27, to take a 78-57 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the first half, the Ignite led College Park by as many as 21 points on the way to as many as 26 before the sound of the final buzzer.
Fellow veteran guard Pooh Jeter lit up the Skyhawks with four second quarter three-pointers, scoring all 12 of his points in the frame. As a team, the Ignite shot 13-of-23 from long-range while holding their opponents to 9-of-30 on the other end.
Projected first round draft pick Leonard Miller tallied his 14th double-double of the season with a career-high 33 points while hauling in 11 rebounds. He scored his career-high in points on 13-of-17 from the field.
Fellow projected first round draft pick Scoot Henderson recorded a 15-point, 12-assist double-double on 6-of-15 shooting. Henderson stole the show with a highlight reel alley-oop in the second quarter but scared plenty of fans in the Gateway Center Arena when he crashed to the floor, appearing to land on his stomach while his face barely missed contact with the hardwood.
Center Eric Mika was the third and final Ignite player to post a double-double, scoring 19 points to go along with his 11 rebounds that tied Miller for the game-high.
Guard Sidy Cissoko was the sixth visiting player to reach double-figure scoring, tallying 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.