Salt Lake City Takes Round Two Over South Bay in Overtime Thriller

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – On the second night of a back-to-back at the UCLA Health Training Center, the South Bay Lakers (7-4), the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers, fell to the Salt Lake City Stars (4-9) in overtime, 117-116, on Friday in El Segundo.

Despite the loss, South Bay’s Mac McClung had another dominant performance and nearly his second-straight game with a triple-double, posting 29 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Seven-foot-two center Jay Huff, coming off a career-high 23 points last night, had an extremely efficient night scoring the ball, tallying 21 points on 10-12 field-goal shooting. All South Bay starters scored in double-figures on the night, but the team fell just short in the end.

Huff ignited the Lakers to start the game and scored nine of South Bay’s first 13 points on 4-5 field-goal shooting. Salt Lake City guard Rayvonte Rice countered with eight points of his own in the opening quarter, including two baskets from deep, to put the Stars ahead after 12 minutes of play, 28-27. McClung paced South Bay with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists in the first half, but the Stars would pull ahead going into the break, 57-54.

South Bay stayed within striking distance all night long despite a dominant performance from Rice, who posted 22 of his career-high 40 points in the second half. Trailing by two points with just under 15 seconds left to play, McClung banked in a driving layup to tie it up and force a two-minute overtime. A deep three-pointer by Stars forward Tra-Deon Hollins put Salt Lake City ahead in overtime, and McClung’s pull-up jump shot in the final seconds did not fall, securing the victory for the Stars, 117-116.

The South Bay Lakers will hit the road to take on the Santa Cruz Warriors (5-8) on Sunday, February 6, 2022, at 6:00 P.M. PT at the Kaiser Permanente Arena. The game will be streamed on NBAGLeague.com.