South Bay Lakers Fall to Salt Lake City

The South Bay Lakers played in their twelfth NBA G League regular season game against the Salt Lake City Stars as they lost 114-112, on Friday night. Bryce Hamilton led the Lakers (8-4), in scoring with 25 points. Johnny Juzang paced the Stars (4-8), scoring 24 points.

Salt Lake got off to a strong start, opening a quick seven-point lead over the Lakers. South Bay’s struggles continued until the end of the first frame, finding it difficult to get into any sort of rhythm. South Bay trailed 17-27 after one.

Both teams continued to trade buckets for the majority of the second frame. Jalen Hood-Schifino and Colin Castleton both led the way for South Bay, scoring 10 each in the half. The Lakers trailed 41-56 at the break.

Two quick three-point shots from Hood-Schifino helped South Bay trim the Stars lead down to 11 in the early part of the third frame. The Stars held off the early surge, with Salt Lake taking a 10-point lead into the final frame, 79-89.

South Bay put together a 10-1 run to start the period to cut the Salt Lake lead to just four with nine minutes remaining. Down the stretch, the game was very tight with both teams making big plays, most notably Damion Baugh’s three fourth quarter three-pointers in the span of just over a minute. A diving second effort to recover the ball from Shaq Harrison led to a Castleton floater to tie the game. Juzang’s ensuing step back three with seven seconds left would win the game for the Stars, closing out the game 114-112.

Hood-Schifino put together a final line of 20 points, five rebounds, six assists, and one block in 33 minutes. Harrison added 17 points and 12 assists while Bryce Hamilton added 25 points and five rebounds off the bench. For the Stars, Juzang scored 24 points and five rebounds while Brice Sensabaugh put up 22 points. 

South Bay will face off against the Iowa Wolves on Monday, Jan. 26 at 7:00pm from the UCLA Health Training Center.