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Westchester Knicks beat the College Park Skyhawks in Rematch at Gateway Center Arena

By Camille Paul / January 4, 2020
The College Park Skyhawks fell to the Westchester Knicks, 113-94, for their first home game of the new year.
The entire game, the Skyhawks seemed to face an uphill battle against the Knicks who seemed to score from every angle.
“No excuses but, it’s just been a while since we played in this building.” said head coach Noel Gillespie. “I know in the NBA that’s always the toughest one, after a long road trip, coming back.”
The last time the Skyhawks played in Gateway Arena was on Dec. 17 versus the Windy City Bulls, another loss. With Christmas Break disrupting the Skyhawks momentum and playing back to back road games, Coach Gillespie felt the team was slightly burnt out.
“They knew they gave up a 19-point lead last time we played; they let one slip away,” he said. “They came in today with a chip on the shoulder and passion and pop.”

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On top of outscoring the Skyhawks in every quarter, the Knicks out-scored the Skyhawks 54-34 in the paint and shot 45 percent from the three. Even though they didn’t shoot lights out, Westchester maintained possession after missed shots and played aggressive defense the entire game.
“It just felt like we couldn’t get over the hump and we were running in mud,” said Gillespie. “We shot 35 percent from the field and missed some easy free throws. We just didn’t have the energy.”
Knick’s Forward Ivan Rabb had a combined 20 rebounds against the Skyhawks, 17 of them being defensive rebounds. By the third quarter every player on the Knicks roster had scored. Lamar Peters and Andrew White III were among scoring leaders, with 21 and 22 points, respectively.
Atlanta’s G-League team seemed to suffer from a common theme in Georgia sports, lapse in defense.
“Defensively, we were terrible,” said two- way Forward, Charlie Brown Jr. “We weren’t communicating and we weren’t on a string tonight. “
Brown Jr. recently has been bouncing back and forth on rosters for the Skyhawks and the Atlanta Hawks. He got off to a slow start, only scoring 11 points, a majority of those in the fourth quarter.
“It’s been tough, but it’s still a blessing,” he said. “The beauty of basketball is that we get another chance. We can watch film, talk to each other and try to build our momentum back up.”
Forward Nick Ward recorded a double-double for the Skyhawks with 17 points and 13 rebounds but was often stifled by the Knicks, who crashed the boards after every play. Skyhawks Guard, Tajhere McCall, was another scoring leader with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
“We played hard, but the ball didn’t fall,” said Ward. “We did what we could, but we are gonna bounce back for next game.”
The Skyhawks will be back in action at Gateway Center Arena on Sunday Jan. 5 at 2 p.m.
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