FRISCO, TX – The South Bay Lakers remained undefeated on the road as they beat the Texas Legends, 125-112, on Friday night. The Lakers (7-1) were led by V.J. Beachem, who poured in a career-high 30 points and tied a franchise record by hitting eight shots from beyond the arc. Texas (3-4) was led by their two-way center Johnathan Motley, who contributed 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Legends.
The Lakers had their best shooting performance of the season as they hit 63.9% of their shots (46-72) and made a season-high 19 three pointers on a 59.4% clip.
South Bay held a slight lead, 33-32, after the first quarter, as everyone that saw the floor scored, led by Vander Blue with eight. Justin Dentmon kept the Legends close with 11 points in the opening quarter. The Lakers extended their lead by halftime, 66-55, as they found their stroke from deep. South Bay hit 7-10 triples in the second quarter, led by three from Beachem. The Lakers shot 66.7% in the first half, their best shooting performance in any half so far this season.
South Bay pushed their lead up to as many as 17 in the third quarter, as Beachem hit three more triples, but Texas would not go away. Motley and J.J. Avila combined for 17 points, to get the deficit down to eight, 95-87, through three. South Bay opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run and would not allow a Texas-size comeback as they reached their seventh win of the season.
Motley’s double-double led the way for Texas, while Dentmon (22 points, four assists) and Brandon Ashley (21 points, six rebounds, four steals) also hit the 20-point threshold. Antonius Cleveland (12 points, three steals), Keith Hornsby (11 points, four assists) and Avila (10 points, five rebounds) scored in double figures and Kyle Collinsworth stuffed the box score with five points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Beachem’s career-night (30 points, four rebounds) paced the Lakers as they won their fourth straight. Blue (27 points, five rebounds, five assists) showed off his scoring prowess, while Scott Machado (16 points, 11 assists, six rebounds) continued to play well off the bench. Also in double-digits for South Bay was Thomas Bryant (15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) and Alex Caruso (13 points, four rebounds, five assists), while Stephen Zimmerman posted his best line of the season with nine points, six rebounds and a career-high five blocks.
The South Bay Lakers will now travel to face the Iowa Wolves on Monday, November 27 at 5:00. The Lakers beat the Wolves in their first meeting of the year, 119-99, on November 15.
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.