South Bay Wins Fourth Straight

The South Bay Lakers played their sixth game of the season against the Oklahoma City Blue as they won, 120-111, on Wednesday night. Scotty Pippen Jr. led the Lakers (4-2) in scoring with 20 points. Jaden Shackelford paced the Blue (2-5), scoring 23 points.

The first quarter was tightly contested, as both teams found success scoring the basketball. It was truly a team effort in the first quarter, with seven players scoring four or more points. Jay Huff got off to a hot start, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds in the first frame. Olivier Sarr led the way for the Blue, scoring six. A 17-8 run to close the quarter helped South Bay extend their lead, carrying a 38-27 advantage into the second period. L.A. continued to play well on both ends. Defensive stops led to transition baskets, several scored by L.J. Figueroa who led South Bay with 10 in the period. For the Blue, Robert Woodard II and Scotty Hopson both scored 10 in the half. The Lakers carried a, 70-50 lead into the break.

After hitting two quick three-pointers to start the third quarter, the Blue went on a run that saw South Bay’s lead cut in half. Scotty Pippen Jr. gave the Lakers a much-needed boost in the quarter to help rebuild the cushion they had previously built. Woodard II and Ryan Wooldridge kept the Oklahoma City in the game with eight each in the period. A last second three cut the Lakers back down to 11, 96-85, going into the final period.

The fourth quarter was as topsy turvy as it gets. The Lakers stretched their lead back out to 18 with eight minutes remaining. Oklahoma City then went on a 14-2 run during the next four minutes to cut the Lakers lead down to just four. However, the Lakers rallied again with stellar defense, and key buckets down the stretch from Pippen Jr. and McCoy to close the game out, 120-111.

Pippen Jr. put together a final line of 20 points and 11 assists. Figueroa added 19 points, and Shaq Harrison contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, and five assists. McCoy put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists off the bench. For the Blue, Shackelford scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Woodard II scored 20 points of his own while snagging 13 rebounds.

South Bay’s next game is against the Texas Legends on Friday, January 13 at 5:30pm from Comerica Center.