The Birmingham Squadron hosted its annual Literacy Day this morning at Legacy Arena, with kids from 35 local schools helping the New Orleans Pelicans’ NBA G League affiliate draw far and away their biggest crowd of the season.
And what lesson did the 4,544 fans learn by watching the Squad tangle with Brooklyn’s developmental club, the Long Island Nets?
Well, they discovered this is a really good brand of basketball.
And in this particular matchup, it was Long Island who played it best.
University of Alabama product Noah Clowney led Long Island and all scorers with 33 points and he had plenty of help as the Nets took a 134-124 decision to sweep the two-game set.
Keon Johnson came off the bench to score 22 points in a winning effort, followed by Kennedy Chandler (20), Kaiser Gates (18) and Kyler Edwards (17).
Malcolm Hill had 29 points for Birmingham, Dereon Seabron added 26, Jordon Hawkins – assigned to the Squadron from the Pelicans today – chipped in 19, Izaiah Brockington and Karlo Matkovic each finished with 15 and Jalen Crutcher added 10.
Long Island finished with a 42-33 rebounding advantage and Birmingham had 17 costly turnovers.
“Long Island is very, very good,” Squadron coach T.J. Saint said. “They’re very physical. We lost because they were more physical. Rebounding is for sure our Achilles’s heel. It’s something I’ve already thought about how to teach next season, but come at it from a totally different approach.
“It’s so valuable … we’re 17-2 on the season when we win the rebounding battle.”
Birmingham trailed by eight points entering the fourth quarter of a game in which Long Island always seemed to stay a step ahead.
A Crutcher three at 9:01 tightened things up to six at 104-98, but the Nets then reeled off five straight points to grab a double-digit lead.
The eventual winners maintained a healthy cushion the rest of the way, improving to 16-11 and jumping into the third playoff position.
Birmingham dropped to 13-15. With just six games left and three and a half games out of the sixth and final postseason spot, its hopes of playing into April are fading.
“If we don’t make it, they’re the team I’m pulling for,” Saint said. “I like that team a lot.”
Matkovic – who had seven points over the first 12 minutes –started the game with a slam. But after Johnson’s 3-pointer at 4:49 put the Nets in front, 24-21, they led the rest of the frame. At the end of one Long Island was ahead, 31-29, with Clowney pacing the leaders with 11 points.
Long Island led by as many as 12 in the second quarter but Birmingham started chipping away at the deficit late, cutting it to 73-66 at halftime.
Hawkins and Hill – each with 14 points – helped the hosts get back in the hunt, although Clowney, Gates and Chandler’s combined 47 points kept the Nets on top.
The Squadron got as close as two in the third stanza, but Long Island refused to give up its advantage.
An 83-81 lead grew to 92-81 with under three minutes left in the quarter, and when the buzzer sounded Mfon Udofia’s charges still showed the way, 98-90.
The home team never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Next up: The Squadron travels to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday to take on the Delaware Bluecoats at Chase Fieldhouse.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. The teams will meet again on Saturday at the same venue with a 5 p.m. start.
OTD in 2022: The Squadron dropped a 110-104 overtime decision to the Texas Legends.
Jared Harper led six double-digit Birmingham scorers with 25 -points, and also dished out 10 assists to get the double-double.
Zach Hankins got a double-double of his own with 19 points and 17 rebounds, and Zylan Cheatham joined the club with 10 points and 10 boards.