College Article Feature: Valley Suns Eclipsed in Salt Lake

Written by Will Naughton | Weber State University

SALT LAKE CITY - After three successive games away from home, the Salt Lake City Stars brought the action back to the Maverik Center with a 140 - 127 home win against the Valley Suns in the NBA G League on Dec. 15.

In addition to improving to a franchise-best 11-2 and clinching first place in the West Pod of the Tip-Off Tournament, the West Valley City Animal Shelter made the 740 home fans’ evening even more special by hosting Pet Adoption Night alongside partners Best Friends.

Following their record-breaking 174-point belting of the Rip City Remix at the Chiles Center on Dec. 11, the Stars were able to keep their offensive heater rolling via big performances from two-way point guard Elijah Harkless and two-way rookie small forward John Tonje, who put 28 and 25 points on the board respectively and posed problems for the 3-10 Suns throughout.

During a first half that witnessed 12 lead changes, Valley started strong and held a nine-point advantage at the first 8:33 mark. After regrouping, the Stars found their rhythm and retook the lead decisively through a Tonje three-pointer. SLC was able to keep their foot on the pedal and go into the halftime break with a 79-66 lead.

Despite the visitors’ unanswered 13-point drive closing the gap to a single point early in the third quarter, the Stars shone on all the way back to a lead as large as 15 points in the final frame and nullified the efforts of the Arizonan organization notwithstanding Suns forward Jaden Shackelford’s 25 points.

Harkless and Tonje’s scoring efforts were complemented in double-digit proportion by four additional bright-shining Stars as starting center Mo Bamba hit 18 points with 11 rebounds and substitutes Sean East II, Cameron McGriff and Hank Morgan integrated with 23, 19 and 12 points correspondingly. East II also provided a career-high 11 assists on the way to the first G League double-double.

Morgan, who played Division III college basketball at Hamilton College before joining the Stars by way of open tryout, enjoyed a breakout performance on the night and is determined to show everyone what he is capable of.

“I just love to get lost in the work,” Morgan said. “When opportunities present themselves, I’m ready for them and comfortable with them. You’ve just got to be willing to adapt and really open-minded about what role you’re fitting into, which changes night-to-night.”

Having secured top-spot in the West Pod of the Tip-Off Tournament, the hosts will automatically advance to the Winter Showcase Tournament and battle it out in an eight-team bracket with the aim of securing championship status and a $100,000 prize for the roster. Salt Lake coach Rick Higgins believes that his roster has the right blend of experience and young talent to go all the way.

“The more experience, the better,” Higgins said. “In the sense of understanding how games can get difficult, how they can get tight, how you need to execute at a different level. As much as Mo’s experience, Pedro’s experience, Cam’s experience is important, everybody just being prepared to play is the number one importance.”

Before the Winter Showcase tips off on Dec. 19 in Orlando, Florida, the Stars face a quick turnaround and will host the Suns again just 22 hours after game 13’s final buzzer. The rematch will air at 6 p.m. on Dec. 16.