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South Bay Completes Near Wire-to-Wire Victory

Cole Knox /November 8, 2022

The South Bay Lakers played their second game of the season against the G League Ignite as they won, 114-103, on Monday night. Javante McCoy led the Lakers (2-0) in scoring with 25 points. Three Lakers, Jay Huff, Shaq Harrison, and Bryce Hamilton scored 15 or more points in the victory. Mojave King led the Ignite (0-3) with 17 points.

The opening layup from Leonard Miller to give the Ignite a 2-0 lead was the only time they would find themselves ahead for the rest of the night. South Bay, led primarily by McCoy and Nate Pierre-Louis, got out to a great start enabling them to build an 22-10 lead midway through the period. McCoy’s nine first quarter points matched his total from the entire previous game. Without top prospect Scoot Henderson, the Ignite rallied around each other, resulting in four players scoring over four points in the first quarter. Even though the Ignite shot an impressive 63% from the field in the second quarter, they were largely trading two-pointers for threes. South Bay drained four from long distance, opening their lead to as much as 20 points and giving them a 64-52 advantage going into the half.

It was largely comfortable for the Lakers in the second half, keeping their double-digit lead throughout the third quarter. McCoy and Bryce Hamilton both put up six points in the quarter to keep the opposition at bay. The Ignite got a valuable boost of the bench with Babacar Sane, Pooh Jeter and Shareef O’Neal all putting up five points or more in the period. South Bay’s defense was able to force the Ignite into seven turnovers in the third quarter, the most they’ve forced in a single quarter through the first two games.

Jeter continued to be an effective sixth man for the Ignite, contributing another six points for them in the fourth quarter. For the Lakers, it was more of the same with McCoy adding another seven while Huff, Harrison and Fabian White Jr. all scored four points. While South Bay lost the quarter by five points, they were still able to secure a double-digit victory over one of the league’s premier teams.

McCoy put together a final line of 27 points, ten rebounds, five assists, and was a game high plus 14. Jay Huff posted his first ever 15-point 15 rebound night with 16 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Bryce Hamilton and Nate Pierre-Louis had strong performances off the bench adding 15 and 13 points respectively.

South Bay will host the Ontario Clippers, November 10 at 7:00pm from the UCLA Health Training Center.