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WILKES-BARRE — After a first half played evenly right down to the wire, the Wyoming Valley Clutch were going to need to find some separation if they wanted to extend their ABA winning streak to four games.
Coming out of the locker room, the Clutch did exactly that.
With the help of scorers like Jackson Danzig and Larry Anderscavage, the Clutch came out of the locker room firing and never looked back, knocking off the Central PA Kings 112-99 at the Wilkes-Barre Catholic Youth Center.
Danzig led the Clutch with 28 points, and Anderscavage finished with 16 — 10 of which came in a third quarter that saw the Clutch outscore their opponents 38-22, making the Kings uncomfortable with their defense and forcing them to try and play from behind.
The Clutch entered Saturday night’s game having won three in a row — but facing one of their toughest tests yet, a Kings team that had been previously ranked in the ABA Top 25 and featured one of the league’s leading scorers.
Demond “Mook” Bates Jr. did his damage — averaging over 40 points a game in the early part of the season, Bates led all scorers with 29 points on Saturday — but the Kings had just one other player score in double figures, with no clear second scoring option presenting themselves.
Danzig and Bates led their respective squads in the first half, which ended with the score tied up at 49 apiece.
The most pivotal stretch of the game came right out of the locker room, as the Clutch knocked down a couple of three-pointers right out of the gate, and were able to create some more transition buckets by causing turnovers on the defensive end.
A lead that never felt bigger than one basket in the first half became a nine-point lead, with a 12-4 Clutch run giving them a 61-52 lead early in the third quarter, a lead that would hold up the rest of the way and grow as big as 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Anderscavage, who had been somewhat quiet from a scoring standpoint in the first half, was a big part of that run: the point guard knocked down a pair of open three-pointers in the quarter, sparking his team’s offense at the most crucial stretch of the evening.
The Clutch were aided by a balanced offensive attack, with five scorers in double figures. Jamie Calloway was the team’s second-leading scorer at 17 points; Hasiin Dixon joined Anderscavage at 16 points and Logan Bailey added 15 points.
Wyoming Valley improves to 4-1 with the win, four wins in a row since a season-opening loss to the Coney Island Thunder.
The Clutch will have a quick turnaround, heading to New Jersey tomorrow to take on the New Jersey Soldiers.