GLEN GRUNWALD
Hutch Post
WICHITA, Kan.—In a game that included big leads by both teams, then went back and forth through most of the second half, the Wichita Sky Kings earned their eighth win of the year 99-94 over the Enid Outlaws (4-5) Friday night at Wichita State's Koch Arena.
The Sky Kings jumped on top and led by 10 points at the 7:54 mark of the 1st quarter before the Outlaws went on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 3:29 to go in the 1st quarter. Wichita had a 24-20 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. That was short lived as Enid bounced back to take their first lead of the night 31-29 at the 7:59 mark of the the 2nd quarter and they extended that lead to enjoy a 51-45 half time lead.
But then it was blow after blow in the 3rd and 4th quarters, as this game produced 16 ties and 24 lead changes over the course of four quarters.
Finally, momentum swung over to the Sky Kings when Teddy Allen was fouled on a fade away corner left jumper that rattled home to tie the game at 87-87. Allen made the and 1 and that four point play gave the Sky Kings the lead at 88-87.
An Enid basket by Kaylon Tippins gave the Outlaws the lead 92-90 with 2:23 remaining.
Wichita answered right back with an Isaac Johnson euro-step basket to tie with 2:04 to go. Then Derick Colter took over and stroked a 15 footer from the left side of the free throw line to give the Sky Kings the lead 94-92 with 1:29 to play. Add another Johnson Free throw to extend the lead to three with :48 seconds to go, then Colter iced the game by hitting four straight free throws to preserve a 99-94 Sky Kings victory.
Teddy Allen returned to the line up after missing the past two games with an eye injury to score 30. Johnny McCants was solid with 14 points, Colter and Kam Williams had 11 each, Simmons added 8 and that included a sweet three point runner that ended the third quarter to give the Sky Kings a three point lead at the time. Johnson added 7, Charles Marquardt 4 and Terrell Brown and Justin Winton both had 2 points each.
The Outlaws put five in double figures being led by Julian Smith with 20 points, Tippins Ruston Hayward and Marvin Johnson each added 14 points, Martaveous McKnight and Ethan Chargois each had 11.
Wichita travels to Little Rock for a game on Saturday with a 6 p.m. tip and then play again on Sunday with a key match up with the Potowatomi Fire in Shawnee Oklahoma at 3 p.m. Potowatomi is 7-1 on the season after bouncing back from a loss to Enid earlier in the week to get a 25 point win over Shrevport Friday night 131-106.
Catch all the action all season long, both home and away on the TBLTV.tv network.
Friday & Saturday, April 7 & 8th will be All-Star Weekend 2023. That weekend features Friday night's Skills Competition and Saturday night's All Star Game in Lehigh, Pennsylvania.
The Sky Kings next home game will be on April 15th versus the South East Texas Panthers at Koch Arena at 7p.m.