South Bay Suffers First Loss of The Season

The South Bay Lakers played their third game of the season against the Ontario Clippers as they fell, 113-130, on Thursday night. Scotty Pippen Jr. led the Lakers (2-1) in scoring with 32 points, the most any Laker has scored this season. Brandon Boston Jr. had a huge night for the Clippers (2-1), scoring 37 points.

The opening quarter between these two familiar foes was tightly contested. After three consecutive turnovers to open the game, both teams settled down and Scotty Pippen Jr. got going, scoring nine points in the quarter. L.J. Figueroa, Bryce Hamilton and Shaq Harrison all had five points in the opening period. Balanced scoring was a trend for both teams with Brandon Boston Jr. leading the way with seven and Malik Fitts scoring six. After a tight opening of the second quarter, the Clippers went on a 21- 0 run, during which South Bay went over four minutes without scoring. A 13-6 run to close the half from South Bay cut the lead to 12, seeing them go into the half down 59-71.

Quarter three saw both teams continue to trade buckets until South Bay made a run to cut the lead to as low as six points in the quarter following a Devin Cannady three. Pippen Jr. and Cannady added eight points apiece in the quarter. Boston Jr. continued to look comfortable, scoring nine points while two- way player Moussa Diabate was able to add another eight points and four rebounds. The Clippers took 98-91 advantage into the final period.

Behind a few defensive stops and a Jay Huff and-one, South Bay cut the Clippers lead down to three midway through the fourth period. In the ensuing possession the Lakers made two defensive stands but conceded two offensive rebounds to Diabate, the second resulting in a three-pointer from Keaton Wallace, building the Clippers lead back to six. In a game where the Lakers just couldn’t get over the hump, this possession felt like a microcosm of the game. Sharpshooter Nate Darling exploded for 13 fourth quarter points while Boston Jr. scored eight of his own to put the game out of sight.

Pippen Jr. put together a final line of 32 points, six assists, four rebounds, one assist and one block. Jay Huff and Devin Cannady both added 15-points in the losing effort. Brandon Boston scored 37 points, the most the Lakers have allowed to a single player since February of last season. Bryce Hamilton and Nate Pierre-Louis had strong performances off the bench adding nine points each while Derek St. Hilaire added ten of his own.

South Bay will look to bounce back with a rematch against the Ontario Clippers, November 12 at 5:00pm from the UCLA Health Training Center.