Orlando Magic

Magic White team earn berth in summer league title game

Published Jul. 9, 2015 6:11 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Orlando Magic White squad defeated the Brooklyn Nets 65-58 Thursday to advance to the championship game of the Orlando Summer League.

The Magic were the only franchise to use split squads in the tournament, with the White squad featuring unsigned free agents and just one player -- Chris Singleton -- who was on an NBA roster in 2014-15.

"Obviously coming into a tournament you want to be the best team out there," Singleton said. "But we just wanted to find our way playing defense and coming together. We just gave it our all and it's turned into wins."

Keith Appling led the Magic with a team-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Appling went 8 of 12 on free throws and made his only 3-point attempt of the game.

"We think we've played the best out of everybody," Appling said. "We just want to finish out the week strong and get the championship, kind of get the reward and not falter at the end. I think we've played with great chemistry and tried to be aggressive on defense, so we just need to continue that."

Scottie Wilbekin added 11 points and three assists in the victory. The former Florida standout spent last year's summer league with the Memphis Grizzlies before playing with several teams overseas, including Cairns Taipans of the NBL in Australia.

"I wanted to come out and be more aggressive," Wilbekin said. "My coaches want me to look for my shot while trying to create for others and still being a point guard. Last year I didn't take too many shots so I wanted to be more aggressive this year."

Orlando earned seven points with Thursday's victory based on the win (four points) and leading in all quarters but the third (one point each).

The Magic White squad will face the Miami Heat on Friday at noon.