Long Island Nets comeback for naught as Delaware wins late

The Long Island Nets battled back from a 5-point deficit with 4:56 to go, but the Delaware Blue Coats won it on Matt Farrell’s layup with 1.1 seconds left.

The Long Island Nets watched a 13-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate Thursday night when the Delaware Blue Coats scored 17 unanswered points, but battled back to reclaim the lead with 1:28 left.

But it was all for naught as the Blue Coats (13-19) scored the last two baskets of the game, including a layup by Matt Farrell with 1.1 seconds left to lift Delaware to a 109-107 NBA G League win at 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.

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The loss was the second in a row for the Nets (21-12) and dropped them into a tie with the Lakeland Magic for first place in the Eastern Conference. a half-game ahead of Raptors 905 (21-13).

Delaware led 105-103 before Mitch Creek — released from his 10-day contract by the parent Brooklyn Nets earlier in the day — hit a reverse layup on a fast-break feed from Jordan McLaughlin to tie the game with 1:58 remaining.

After a defensive stop, Theo Pinson — on a two-way contract with Brooklyn — found a lane and got to the rim for a go-ahead layup with 56.3 seconds to go.

Former Brooklyn Net Rashad Vaughn rebounded a miss by Pinson and went coast-to-coast to tie the game with a layup with 48.6 seconds to go.

Pinson missed a layup, but the Nets retained possession when the ball went out of bounds off Delaware. But McLaughlin’s drive was snuffed out by D.J. Hogg. Jared Brownridge got the loose ball and Farrell hit the game-winner 18.6 seconds later.

Pinson’s long 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark after a timeout and the Blue Coats had the win.

Long Island was victimized by its poor 3-point shooting, as the Nets hit just 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) from behind the arc, while Delaware hit 13-of-35 (37.1 percent). That helped negate a 72-52 edge for the Nets in the paint, as well as a 22-16 advantage in second-chance points.

The Nets shot 42 percent (42-for-100) overall and outrebounded the Blue Coats 58-49. Delaware, though, made 46.4 percent of its attempts (45-for-97).

Two-way player Alan Williams led Long Island with 19 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Drew Gordon added 10 rebounds off the bench and Pinson finished with 15 points and four assists

Creek dropped in 18 points for the Nets, McLaughlin had 14, Shannon Scott scored 13 and rookie Dzanan Musa — on assignment from Brooklyn — had 11 points in 27 minutes, shooting 4-for-13 overall and 1-for-6 from deep.

Vaughn scored 25 points to lead the Blue Coats and Brownridge added 21 points and six assists. Ryan Anderson finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds, Farrell went for 13 points and nine assists and Hogg logged 10 points and three blocks.

Justin Patton, on assignment from the parent Philadelphia 76ers, came off the bench for 14 points and three blocks in just 15 minutes for Delaware.

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The Nets will be on the road once again Saturday night, facing the Westchester Knicks (20-16) at Westchester County Center in White Plains for a 7 p.m. tip.