Long Island Nets fall to College Park Skyhawks, 128-108 but AJ Lawson, Jacky Cui excel

The losses continue to pile up but so do positives on the development side as AJ Lawson, Dariq Whitehead and Jacky Cui had solid games.

The Long Island came into Nassau Coliseum Sunday afternoon, having lost their past seven games, which is the G-League’s longest losing streak and hoping for a win as well as some development positives.

They didn’t get the win, losing to the College Park Skyhawks and dropping to 2-10 but similar to Friday’s lost, Long Island had a few positives against College Park. Despite the 20- point loss, Long Island placed seven players in double-digits. Development was the priority in Sunday’s game, and several different Nets showed off their potential.

In particular, A.J. Lawson, Killian Hayes, Jacky Cui and Dariq Whitehead had good games.

Lawson, Long Island’s 6’7’ wing, continued to have the hot hand in scoring. The Canadian led the team once again with 27 points. Lawson landed three of his nine 3-point attempts and went 10-for-23 in total. Lawson also finished with five rebounds and two assists as well as two steals in his 36 minutes.

In his last four games, Lawson is averaging 28.8 points, leading the team. Lawson. who’s not been known as a great shooter, has hit 15 of his 36 (41.7%) threes in those games, 3-of-9 Sunday. Lawson has been one of the team’s best scorers for almost the entirety of the new campaign. He’s currently averaging 24.0 points. 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals.

Hayes continued to be one of the better players on Long Island. Despite only scoring 10 points, he picked up nine assists and seven rebounds, flirting with a triple-double. This comes just days after another double-double on Friday.

The 23-year-old French point guard looked much better from beyond the arc in this game, hitting two out of his three three-point attempts Sunday. On Friday, he had gone 0-for-6 from deep, forcing a lot of his shots

Cui had what was his best game as a Net, whether in Brooklyn or Long Island, Sunday. After a tough outing on Friday where he finished with just six points, Cui turned it up a notch. Cui finished with 14 points, third on the team in scoring. He also contributed four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in his 24 minutes on the court.

Whitehead, who made his second straight start for Long Island, was second in scoring again, finishing with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals but he didn’t have a good shooting night, going 5-of-15 overall and 1-of-6 from deep. But over the last three games, sandwiched around his 18-point performance for Brooklyn, Whitehead is averaging 21.3 points. Shooting woes aside, the four games are his best stretch as a pro.

Patrick Gardner came close to a double-double of his own, picking up 12 points and nine rebounds in what could have been Gardner’s best game for Long Island. The 6’11” Merrick, Long Island resident, has been playing basically non-stop for the last year, for Long Island n the G League, the Egyptian national team and a couple of Basketball Africa League teams.

The first quarter of the game started fast with each team exchanging blows. Ultimately, it ended with Long Island falling behind and trailing by nine by the time the second quarter kicked off. College Park continued to widen its lead against Long Island, heading into the half-up by 15.

In the third quarter, Long Island continued to struggle. Ultimately, College Park didn’t let up and picked up a decisive victory over Long Island. The looks were there for Long Island, but unfortunately they just couldn’t get the buckets to drop.

Killian Wants To Get Team Involved

In an exclusive interview with ND after the game, Killian Hayes spoke about what his recent performances meant to him, and how he wants to be known as a teammate.

“I think getting assists and finding my teammates is something I’ve always done,” says Hayes. “Getting on the board, and being aggressive, especially with us being under-sized, just going in there and pushing it is kind of my mindset going into it.”

Hayes feels it’s very important to be a team player and get his teammates involved. “It’s important to get in there and read what the game is,” says Hayes. “My team has some great shooters so if I could find them and give them a good look, it’s good for us, that’s my mindset.”

Skyhawks guard Jordan Bowden tallied 23 points, four rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes. College Park forward Kevon Harris added 19 points, six rebounds, nine assists and one steal in 33 minutes.

Next Up

Following their latest loss to the College Park Skyhawks, the Long Island Nets will look to getting back in the win column on Wednesday, December 11th when they remain at home to play the visiting Maine Celtics. The last time these teams played was on opening night when Long Island walked away with the win, 129-123.

The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET at Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum. You can watch it on ESPN+ and the YES App.

• Boxscore: College Park Skyhawks 128, Long Island Nets 108 – G League