GO-GO Breeze past BayHawks after huge third quarter
By Capital City Go-Go
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Capital City Go-Go (16-17), the NBA G League affiliate of the Washington Wizards, cruised by the Erie BayHawks (9-23), 133-106 on Saturday night at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Capital City led 59-55 late in the second quarter before embarking on a 24-0 run through the midway point of the third quarter to take an 83-55 lead. During the run, the Go-Go forced the BayHawks into seven turnovers and six-straight missed shots to stifle the Erie offense. The run was punctuated by Garrison Mathews’ four-point play with 6:15 remaining in the quarter. Capital City outscored Erie 43-17 in the third, shooting .583 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line, while forcing 10 turnovers for 24 points. The 27-point victory was the largest margin for the Go-Go this season.
“Yeah, we were really locked into that third quarter and made a run. [The] defense got us going,” said Capital City Go-Go Head Coach Ryan Richman. “We had 12 stops in a row. It’s great to see the guys play hard for that stretch of time. It was fun.”
Capital City finished with eight players in double-figures, including six players with 15-plus, a new franchise record. The balanced scoring effort led to a season-high 133 points for the Go-Go, who shot .495 from the field and out-rebounded the BayHawks 55 to 40. Capital City also tallied season highs in points in the paint with 80, second chance points with 26 and points off turnovers with 44.
Wizards’ assignees led the way for Capital City, with Gary Payton II finishing with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double. Anzejs Pasecniks finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Admiral Schofield had 11 points. Wizards’ two-way players contributed to the effort, as Garrison Mathews had 15 points and Johnathan Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds. All five starters in Capital City’s lineup finished with a plus-18 rating or higher, and three members of the bench finished higher than plus-11. Jalen Jones (17 points) and Jalen Hudson (15 points) helped off the bench as well.
“Gary was great,” Richman said of Payton II. “His energy is infectious. He really got into the ball in the second half and was aggressive defensively. He messed up one of my plays on the lob, but besides that he was great.”
Erie was led by New Orleans two-way player Josh Gray’s 19 points and six rebounds. Five other BayHawks scored in double-figures, including Jalen Adams (14), Zylan Cheatham (13), Aubrey Dawkins (12), Javon Bess and Vitto Brown (10 each).
The Go-Go and BayHawks will meet again on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Erie Insurance Arena.
