PRESCOTT VALLEY, AZ – The South Bay Lakers remained undefeated on the road as they beat the Northern Arizona Suns, 148-144, in overtime on Tuesday night. South Bay (9-2) was led by Scott Machado, who scored a career-high 39 points in the win. The Suns (5-7) hit 22 three-pointers and Alec Peters scored 33 points, but strong defense down the stretch preserved the win for South Bay.
The Lakers led after the first quarter, 36-29, behind a combined 19 points from Machado and Travis Wear. South Bay continued to pile on the points in the second as they scored their most first half points of the season to take a 73-66 lead into the half. Thomas Bryant (10 points, 2-3 from three) joined Machado (19 points) and Wear (13 points) in double digits at halftime for the Lakers. Xavier Silas and Alec Peters combined for 31 first half points to keep the Suns within striking distance.
The Suns made their run in the third quarter behind 14 points from Peters and 12 from Shaquille Harrison, to take the 108-104 lead. The Suns made nine threes in the third quarter that saw them outscore the Lakers 42-31. The Suns started off hot in the fourth as they hit their first three triples and pushed their lead to 12, but the Lakers fought back to force overtime behind nine fourth quarter points apiece from Machado and Alex Caruso, but it was a floater by Bryant that evened the score at 139 and sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, Machado took over and scored all nine of South Bay’s points and Stephaun Branch made a few crucial stops to guarantee the sixth road win of the season for the Lakers.
The Suns, who scored a franchise record 144 points, were led by Peters (33 points, 11 rebounds) and Harrison (26 points, five rebounds), while four other Suns scored in double digits: Askia Booker (23 points, four assists, four steals), Silas (22 points, 6-9 from deep), Josh Gray (16 points, 11 assists) and Mike Young (11 points, 16 rebounds, six assists).
Machado’s career-night (39 points, four rebounds, eight assists) led the Lakers, while Wear (career-high 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists), Bryant (24 points, seven rebounds, four assists), Caruso (16 points, nine assists) and V.J. Beachem (11 points) also scored in double figures for South Bay. Andre Ingram scored six points to move into a tie with Will Conroy as the tenth all-time leading scorer (3,546) in G League history and rookie Ian Baker made his career debut, scoring two points in three minutes of action.
The South Bay Lakers will return home to face the Sioux Falls Skyforce in a rematch of the 2016 Finals on Friday, December 8 at 7:00 from the UCLA Health Training Center.
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.
