Long Island Nets win fifth straight, 131-112, behind Jordan Bowden’s 31

Jan 26, 2023 - 4:34 PM

The Long Island Nets are on a roll, winning their fifth straight game and improving to 11-3 at Nassau Coliseum Wednesday night. Eight players scored in double figures for Long Island in the 131-112 win over the Iowa Wolves.

The Nets were without two-way David Duke Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe and Kessler Edwards who were in Philly with the big club while Dru Smith, their newly signed two-way, got a DNP. No word on why he was out but some speculate he might be headed for his Brooklyn debut vs. the Pistons.

Still, Long Island shot a season-high 55.8% (53-of-95) from the field and a season-best 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from 3-point range to go along with a season-high 36 assists on 53 field goals. Their five-game winning streak is current the longest in the G League and put them in second place, behind the Cleveland Charge, in the East.

Jordan Bowden dropped in a season-high 31 points behind eight 3-pointers for the Nets, the 6’5” 3-and-D candidate hitting 8-of-15 from deep. RaiQuan Gray, just back from injury, and Kavion Pippen each scored 20 points. Pippen also corralled nine boards. Alondes Williams, who Brooklyn waived as a two-way but continues to play for Long Island, finished with 12 while Chris Chiozza had 10 points and 15 assists. Other Nets who broke double digits were Kaiser Gates with 14, Noah Kirkwood with 11 and Kam Hankerson with 10.

Iowa (3-11) started the night strong leading by as many as 10 in the first quarter. However, the Nets came back and tied the score at 32-all going into the second. The second period was back-and-forth with five lead changes and two ties as Long Island carried a two-point lead of 60-58 into halftime.

The Wolves’ shooting cooled in the third as they made just one three-pointer and scored just 20 points as the Nets capitalized leading by 14 heading into the final period. Iowa’s shooting improved in the fourth, but the Nets stayed hot maintaining a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Iowa was led in scoring by D.J. Carton who scored 19 points while Javonte Cooke and Emmanuel Mudiay had 17 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench. Matt Lewis finished with 16 points and Josh Minott and Brandon Sampson each added 12 points.

Long Island next plays Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm ET in Washington vs. the Capital City Go-Go.

Iowa begins a season-long nine-game homestand on Friday night at 7 p.m. when the Oklahoma City Blue Visit Wells Fargo Arena.

• Game Report: Long Island Nets 131, Iowa Wolves 112 - G League
• Game Highlights: Long Island Nets 131, Iowa Wolves 112 (Video) - G League
• Highlights: Jordan Bowden / 31 points (Video) - G League
• Highlights: RaiQuan Gray / 20 points (Video) - Long Island Nets
• Highlights: Kavion Pippen / 20 points (Video) - Long Island Nets