EL SEGUNDO—The Santa Cruz Warriors were eliminated in the first round of the NBA G League playoffs after a 134-123 loss to the South Bay Lakers on Tuesday night.
Kendall Smith led the way with 25 points for the Warriors, and teammates Selom Mawugbe and Jerome Robinson both had double-doubles in the losing effort.
Mawugbe finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Robinson had 19 points and 10 assists for Santa Cruz (15-18).
The game had six lead changes through the first seven minutes before the Lakers took the momentum and closed the opening stanza with a 36-29 lead.
South Bay kept the lead throughout the second quarter and went into halftime with a 70-61 lead that was led by 12 three-pointers in the first half.
South Bay outscored the Warriors 14-2 coming out of the break. Santa Cruz answered with a 12-0 run of its own, coming within nine points of the Lakers.
Santa Cruz sparked a 13-0 run early in the fourth to cut the lead to six, but the Lakers held on en route to a 134-123 victory.
South Bay (22-11) finished the night with 20 made three-pointers and shot 43.5% from beyond the arc.
Mac McClung scored a game-high 27 points and added 10 assists for the Lakers, and fellow teammate Paris Bass came off the bench to add 17 points and 12 rebounds.
