South Bay Hustles by Memphis

The South Bay Lakers (9-15) defeated the Memphis Hustle (12-12) 128-124 Thursday night at Landers Center. Lakers two-way center Christian Koloko notched his second consecutive double-double performance with 20 points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one block in the victory.

South Bay outshot the Hustle by a 47.6 percent to 37.0 percent margin from the field in the first 12 minutes to help take a one-point advantage going into the second frame. The Lakers maintained their rhythm and went on a 15-0 run, but Memphis fought back to finish the second period only trailing 55-49. The Hustle’s offense refueled in the third quarter, taking an 11-point lead thanks to a 17-0 run in the first three minutes of the period. However, the Lakers stayed resilient through the quarter to close the gap and entered the final period trailing by five points. With 6:22 on the clock, the Lakers tied the game at 109-points even with a 3-pointer by guard Grayson Murphy. In a back-and-forth final two minutes of play, the Lakers pulled ahead to seal their third consecutive win on the road.

Murphy recorded his fifth double-double of the regular season with 11 points and 10 assists to go with six rebounds and three steals. Forward Cole Swider notched his fourth-straight performance with 20+ points, finishing out the night with a team-high 25 points to go with nine rebounds. Guard Quincy Olivari tallied 18 points and eight rebounds while guard Sir’Jabari Rice added 15 points, one rebound and four assists off the bench. A total of eight Lakers players landed in double-figure scoring, including guard Jhonathan Dunn, guard Sir’Jabari Rice and forward Stanley Johnson.

Memphis center Armondo Bacot scored a game-high 31 points with six rebounds and three assists. Guard David Johnson recorded 27 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Forward Nate Hinton coupled 17 points and 11 rebounds with five assists and a game-high five steals. Guard Malachi Smith registered 23 points, three rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block. All five Hustle starters finished with 10+ points, including two-way guard Yuki Kawamura with 10 points. The South Bay Lakers return home to play the Motor City Cruise March 8 at 5 p.m. at UCLA Health Training Center for Women’s Appreciation Night. Fans can click here to purchase tickets.