Delaware Blue Coats Lose Nail Biter to Nets

On Saturday night, the Delaware Blue Coats welcomed the Long Island Nets to the Chase Field House, as they looked to build off of their win against the Raptors 905 on Thursday night.

While the Nets appeared to have their grip on the first quarter, thanks to impressive offensive displays from Kennedy Chandler and Keon Johnson, the Blue Coats were set on coming back, as Aminu Mohammed and Ricky Council IV went off, with the latter guard draining a three to tie to match as the opening quarter concluded.

For Mohammed, Saturday's match presents him with an important opportunity, a start, after the 22-year-old spent the opening part of the season coming off the bench, with the Nigerian guard stating that having a spot in the line up is important to him.

"It means a lot to me, especially being a guy coming up..." said Mohammed, "you never know when your number is going to be called and you got to be ready to answer the call."

While Mohammed would struggle to score in the second, the same couldn't be said for the recently acquired Darius Bazley, who managed to put up ten points to close out the half, which would put the Coats just behind the Nets.

Yet, the third quarter would present Delaware with a new challenge, as Long Island's Armoni Brooks erupted for 17 points in the third quarter, which offset an impressive quarter from Council IV.

The fourth quarter would be a close with Javonte Smart igniting for ten points, which would keep the Coats right behind the Nets up until the final minute where Long Island nailed the door shut.

Following their loss on Saturday night, Delaware's record falls to 8-6, which sees them sit tied with the Maine Celtics and Nets for third place in the East.

While the Blue Coats certainly didn't struggle from beyond the arch, the Nets put on a clinic, shooting 58-percent from down town, something that Delaware coach Mike Longabardi saw as an defensive area for his team to improve.

"I'm not saying they had an out of body experience, but that's not a 58 percent shooting team," said Longabardi, "some of them we probably need to challenge harder, yes, but some of them did certain things that you're going to have to live with."