WICHITA, Kan. — The "Kardiac Kings" were at it again Sunday night at Koch Arena in Wichita. This time, it took double overtime to get the win.
The Wichita Sky Kings went toe-to-toe with the central division-leading Potawatomi Fire to finally win 138-133 in double OT.
Wichita (14-4) lost eight days ago to the Fire at home 105-90 after trailing by only two points going into the final quarter. No fourth-quarter failure to launch this time around as the Sky Kings erased a four-point deficit to tie the game at 115 by the end of regulation. The hero this time around was Jachai Simmon, who had a put-back basket off a Julian Winton missed shot with .02 seconds remaining. Simmons, who had a career-high 36 points on the night going 13-of-21 and 7-for-13 from long range, was outstanding all night long. Simmons also had nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.
Brandon Watkins, coming off the bench to replace the injured Isaac Johnson late in the fourth quarter, had 20 points and seven boards, but fouled out late in the second overtime. Johnson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds before the ankle injury took him out of the game.
Point guard Derrick Colter had a fantastic first half and finished the game with 19 points and five assists. Winton had 11, Terrell Brown 8, Matt Cerrutti added five, and D'Evon Andrews came off the bench to score four. McCants added four points plus 8 rebounds on the night.
The first overtime was back-and-forth, finishing the extra period tied at 126 with four ties and six lead changes.
Simmons connected on a three-pointer with 3:01 to go in the second overtime, but Potawatomi's Chuck Guy answered with a three of his own to tie it at 131 with 2:45 to play. The Fire surged ahead 133-131 after a Deshawn Munson layup with 1:14 remaining, but those would be the last points the Fire would score. Wichita's Kam Williams took over by going 5-of-6 from the foul stripe, plus a basket to put the game away in the final minute of play. Williams scored 14 points, had five rebounds and three assists.
The final minute of the second overtime was not without excitement. The Fire's Paul Harrison was fouled shooting a three by Johnny McCants with six seconds to play. Harrison failed to connect on any of the three free throws, allowing Williams to close out the game with his final free throws. Harrison actually missed his final free throw by slamming the ball off the backboard in an attempt to set up a game-tying three-point attempt.
KD Moore led the Fire with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Harrison scored 21. Terry Maston and Lyle Hexom each had 17.
The game was tied 22 times and had 27 lead changes.
Wichita actually held the lead for 30:16 to Potawatomi's 15:13.
The Sky Kings go to 14-4 on the season, in third place in the central division just behind Shreveport at 12-3. The loss was only Potawatomi's second of the season (13-2). The Fire's other loss was to the Enid Outlaws on March 26.
The Sky Kings play a home stand versus the Pearland (Texas) Warriors on May 5 and the Enid Outlaws on May 7 before going on a five-game road trip. Wichita returns home on May 28.
Wichita and Potawatomi will match up for the final time in the regular season on May 25 at Fire Lake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. That game should be a dandy.
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