RENO, NV – The South Bay Lakers couldn’t get it going as they fell to the Reno Bighorns, 133-100, on Sunday night. Travis Wear led the Lakers (10-3) with 17 points, but South Bay never found their shot from deep as they shot only 21.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Bighorns (5-8) had seven players score in double-digits and shot well from all over the court (51.6% from the field, 50% from three) in their win.
The Lakers led after the first quarter, 29-23, behind seven points apiece from Scott Machado and Wear. Jack Cooley kept the Bighorns close with eight points of his own in the first frame. The Bighorns found their range in the second quarter as they hit six threes and were led by Michael Bethea Jr. who scored 17 of Reno’s 39 points in the second as they took a 62-54 halftime lead.
Reno continued to pull away in the third quarter as they ended the frame with a 104-77 lead as Aaron Harrison poured in 20 points for the Bighorns. South Bay wasn’t able to overcome Reno’s big lead in the fourth as they lost for only the third time this season.
Reno was led by Harrison’s 22 points as he hit 6-10 shots from deep. Cooley (17 points, six rebounds), Cody Demps (16 points, eight rebounds) and Matt Jones (10 points, eight rebounds) contributed to the balanced scoring while Will Davis (19 points, seven rebounds) and Bethea Jr. (17 points, six rebounds) led Reno’s reserves.
South Bay only had four players score in double figures, led by Wear’s 17 points and Stephen Zimmerman’s 14 points off the bench. Thomas Bryant (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Machado (11 points, six assists) also reached double figures, but the Lakers could not keep up with the high-scoring Bighorns.
The South Bay Lakers will look to get back on track when they play the second end of their back-to-back tomorrow night against the Salt Lake City Stars at 6:00 from the Lifetime Activities Center- Bruin Arena.
The NBA G League’s South Bay Lakers, the first franchise in G League history to be owned by an NBA team (Los Angeles Lakers), returns for its 11th season of competition in 2017-18. The Lakers franchise has established itself as a top producer of NBA-ready talent, totaling 26 NBA Call-Ups and developing 19 Lakers assignment players since the inaugural 2006-07 season. Last season, the Lakers returned to the playoffs for the third time in the last four years and produced the league MVP in guard Vander Blue. The Lakers have claimed three division titles and have twice competed in the NBA G League Finals, most recently in 2015-16.