Bronny James Scores Career-High 39 Points in South Bay Victory

The South Bay Lakers (14-17) defeated the Santa Cruz Warriors (18-13) 122-118 Monday night at home at UCLA Health Training Center. Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, currently on assignment, scored a career and game-high 39 points with seven rebounds, four assists, a team-high four steals and one block.  

The two teams rallied back-and-forth in the early minutes of the game, but Santa Cruz pulled away with a 10-0 run to finish the first period with a nine-point lead. South Bay guard Sir’Jabari Rice drained 14 points of his own in the second quarter as the Lakers found rhythm to outscore the Warriors by a 36-29-point margin to finish the half trailing by two points. The teams dueled through the third quarter as South Bay outrebounded Santa Cruz by a 14-7 margin to score 13 second-chance points over the Warriors’ two points. With both teams tallying 34 points in the third period, Santa Cruz remained two points ahead to enter the final quarter. The Lakers ignited in the fourth period to eclipse the Warriors with 8:43 on the clock and held an eight-point lead in the final 45 seconds of play to secure the victory at home.

South Bay forward Joirdon Nicholas coupled a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds with three assists and one block off the bench. Rice notched his third 20+ point game of the regular season with 20 points, two assists and two steals while forward Cole Swider added 14 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Forward Stanley Johnson registered 10 points, four rebounds, a team-high six assists, two steals and two blocks. Forward Solomon Young grabbed 10 boards in his third regular-season game with double-digit rebounds.

Santa Cruz forward Blake Hinson scored a team-high 34 points to go with four rebounds and one steal. Two-way forward Taran Armstrong recorded 22 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and a game-high six steals. Two-way forward Jackson Rowe contributed 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks. Forwards Javan Johnson and Donta Scott both scored in double figures. 

The South Bay Lakers take on the Santa Cruz Warriors once more at UCLA Health Training Center March 25 at 7 p.m. Fans can click here to purchase tickets.