Santa Cruz Outlasts Sioux Falls Skyforce as Western Conference Leaders Clash
As one of the early season key G League matchups, this one determined who gained control of the Western Conference’s best record. Santa Cruz bested the visiting Sioux Falls Skyforce 113-102.
Each quarter had one player provide an offensive burst for the Skyforce (10-3). Be it Duncan Robinson in the first, Malik Newman in the second and Yante Maten in both the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors (10-2) got a tip-in bucket at the end of the first quarter and maintained a lead through the final three stanzas.
A lot of jabs were traded between the two teams until Santa Cruz put together a 9-1 run early in the fourth quarter that was just enough to separate the two teams for good. The last five of those points came at the charity stripe. From there the two teams traded baskets with the Warriors holding a three or four possession edge.
Maten concluded operations with his fourth straight performance with at least 30 points by notching 35 counters with 13 rebounds. Newman buried four buckets from long-distance and finished with 25 and Robinson scored a dozen.
Two Warriors contributed nearly half of the team’s points as Damion Lee and Kendrick Nunn each scored 28 points. Including Nunn, the four bench players for Santa Cruz outscored the starters 65-48.
Santa Cruz returns to action with a trip to El Segundo to play the South Bay Lakers on Friday. Sioux Falls returns home with a Saturday night date with the Texas Legends.