Magic Gaming Advances to TURN Bracket Play With Thrilling Comeback Win Over 76ers GC

ORLANDO – You hear it all the time in sports: Experience matters.

Even though that’s a cliché saying, it’s true, and it often determines how far a team goes. In the case of Magic Gaming, what they are experienced with is playing in close games down the stretch. They’ve won some and they’ve lost them. But you had to figure, all those times in those moments throughout both the TIPOFF and TURN would help them in the biggest of games.

And the biggest game to date came Friday, against 76ers GC with a spot in TURN bracket play on the line. Down nearly the entire second half, including by 13 late in the third quarter, Magic Gaming stormed back to knock out Philadelphia with a 65-62 victory and earn a trip to Washington, D.C. next week.

Joshua “unguardable” Hunter, never one to back down from the pressure, buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 21.7 seconds left. After some intentional fouling, Ethan “Radiant” White, re-acquired by the Sixers early last week, missed a heavily contested 3-pointer in an attempt to tie it right before the buzzer.

“I knew they weren’t trying to give up paint points in that moment – it was a tie game,” unguardable said of the go-ahead shot. “Really, I haven’t had the best season throughout fives, so it was more like a bet on myself. I knew I would get open. That wasn’t really the problem. It was more so hitting the shot. (I) shot the ball. My teammates trusted me. And I hit the shot.”

Orlando initially went ahead with 1:46 left off an Emmanuel “FantaSZN” Gosman triple. Samuel “Gradient” Salyers, formerly a No. 2 overall draft pick in the 2KL, and Radiant each had dunks on Philly’s next two possessions. Ashton “LowkeyGodlike” Agredano followed that up with a dunk of his own to tie it with 48 seconds remaining.

What led to unguardable’s clutch trey was a steal by defensive ace Julian “Jboolin” Manzanares.

“It was more of a composure thing,” Jboolin said of his team’s mindset going into the fourth. “We were staying in the game with them not playing our best ball. We were just telling each other just calm down, take a breath…If we made the right decisions down the stretch, we knew we would come back and win.”

Unguardable led Orlando with 27 points and 10 assists, while LowkeyGodlike had 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block.

Damon “DJ” Jones led the Sixers with 24 points on perfect 12-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, while Andre “Dre” Marshall scored 19 points. Philly only made six of its 22 3-point attempts.

UP NEXT: Magic Gaming will play EITHER Heat Check Gaming or Cavs Legion GC next week in the first round of TURN bracket play. A win in that game would also significantly increase their chances of securing a playoff spot without having to participate in the TICKET.

“We promised each other that if we are going to be this talented, at least not do a disservice to ourselves. Just all buy in at the same time and keep taking those steps forward to try to improve,” Jboolin said about the team’s continued progress this season in 5v5.

HOW TO WATCH: Fans can watch games live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels.