College Article Feature: Conference-leading Stars Overcome Lakers for Seventh Straight Win

Written by Will Naughton | Weber State University

The Salt Lake City Stars returned home from their successful doubleheader at the Santa Cruz Warriors and improved their record to 8-1 with a 136-105 win against the South Bay Lakers on Dec. 2. The Monday night NBA G league showdown tipped off at the Delta Center and marked the Stars’ second “kid’s day” game of the season, presented by Med One.

Rookie small forward John Tonje shot 63% from the field and led the scoring for Salt Lake with 30 points, the highest return of his G league career to date. It was his fourth game in a row with double-digit scoring. South Bay shooting guard Luke Goode’s team-high 21 points were not enough to overcome the eight SLC players who reached double-figure point tallies.

Stars coach Rick Higgins lauded the team’s considerable depth and explained why it makes them so dangerous.

“We can let the ball stay in motion,” Higgins said. “Everybody can do something with it. We don’t have to try to highlight any specific person, which actually makes us a lot tougher to guard in my opinion.

The Lakers (5-4) started the game hot and amassed a 12 point lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. The hosts responded by putting up 19 unanswered points, including a lead-exchanging slam dunk from power forward Taylor Hendricks, and shutting South Bay out for the remainder of the period to bring the score to 31-24.

Having found their rhythm towards the end of the opening 12 minutes, Salt Lake carried their momentum into the second quarter as Tonje knocked down 10 points to help extend the SLC advantage to 13 at 67-52 by halftime.

Tempers flared early in the second half as South Bay guard Chris Mañon reacted aggressively to a defensive infraction from Hendricks, resulting in a technical foul for both players. 10 minutes later, another technical foul was dealt to the Lakers’ bench.

SLC furthered their scoreboard dominance in the third quarter, at one point holding a game-high 32 point lead in no small part due to center Oscar Tshibwe, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Guards Sean East II and Elijah Harkless put up five assists each for the home side in a performance that highlighted their offensive vision.

The final 12 minutes saw the Stars keep the Lakers at arms’ length, with the southern California unit only managing to come as close as 25 points down before the buzzer sounded for a 136-105 Salt Lake victory. SLC guard Matthew Murrell was a defensive anchor on the night with three blocks as forward turned shooting guard Cody Williams went 5-5 from the line and 4-6 from the field for 18 points.

Williams, on assignment to the G league from the Utah Jazz, followed Higgins’ instructions concerning transitional play to a tee. 

“I think it just makes everything a lot easier,” Williams said. “When I play fast, it kind of makes the defense have to react to me. It makes my rim reads easier, my driving kicks, my finishing, it kind of just makes all that easier to see. I feel like when I play fast, that’s when I’m playing my best.”

The conference-leading Stars now face a trip to the Stockton kings on Dec. 4 before their doubleheader against Rip City Remix in Portland, Oregon, which will stream on Jazz+ and ESPN+ on Dec. 9 and Dec. 11.