South Bay falls to Blue on poor shooting night

EL SEGUNDO (Jan. 28, 2018) – The South Bay Lakers fell to the Oklahoma City Blue, 100-95 (box score), on Sunday night as the Lakers shot a season-low 34.7% from the field. Andre Ingram finished with 24 points, including a career-high tying seven triples, to lead the way for South Bay (18-12), but the Lakers couldn’t overcome their poor shooting performance. PJ Dozier paced the Blue (18-14) with 26 points and nine rebounds.

South Bay struggled to find their shot in the first quarter, shooting only 16.7% in the period, as they found themselves down 24-14 through one. Ingram got hot in the second, shooting 4-6 from three-point range, as he scored all 13 of his first half points in the quarter. Dozier and Justin Leon combined for 25 in the first half as the teams were knotted at 43 going into the break.

South Bay continued to trail after three, as the Blue maintained a 74-66 lead. Ivica Zubac had eight points to pace the Lakers, but Bryce Alford tallied 10 points of his own in the period for the Blue. Ingram scored eight more in the fourth, but Dozier had nine for the Blue as Oklahoma City prevailed.

Dozier’s strong performance guided the Blue as Alford scored 19 points of his own to go along with six assists. Rashawn Thomas nearly grabbed a triple-double (16 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists) and Leon also finished with a double-double (12 points, 11 assists) for Oklahoma City.

The South Bay Lakers return to the court when they host the Northern Arizona Suns on Wednesday, January 31 at 7:00 from the UCLA Health Training Center. Tickets are available online or on the day of the game at the box office, which will open 90 minutes prior to tip (5:30 p.m.).

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 21 Lakers assignment players since the inaugural 2006-07 season. The Lakers have claimed three division titles and have twice competed in the NBA G League Finals, most recently in 2015-16.