D-Fenders Go Cold in Loss to Erie
December 15, 2016 - NBA G League (G League)
Los Angeles D-Fenders News Release
ERIE, Pennsylvania - Playing on a New England night that included temperatures as low as the teens, Los Angeles may have been colder inside the Erie Insurance Arena.
The D-Fenders fell to the Erie BayHawks on Thursday, 118-99, behind season-lows in points and field goals made. Los Angeles never led by more than one point and trailed for most of the day in the team's first Eastern Conference matchup of the year.
Los Angeles (9-4) had a season-low three players score in double figures. That group was led by rookie David Nwaba, who totaled 23 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Meanwhile, Vander Blue had 22 points while Travis Wear had 13 points and 10 rebounds, good for his first double-double of the year.
Erie (3-9) enjoyed a dominant night from guard Gabe York, who used a 10-of-13 mark from three-point range to set a franchise record. York scored 38 points overall, while T.J. Price pitched in 21 points. Ramon Galloway and Alex Davis each scored 18 for the BayHawks.
In many ways, the first quarter was indicative of the game as a whole. Nwaba scored nine points in the frame to lead LA, but York cashed in on three shots from long range to finish the quarter with 11. Erie would take a 30-22 advantage into the second.
Once there, the BayHawks outscored LA, 39-20, to widen the deficit. Blue led the D-Fenders with eight points and Justin Harper scored his only seven points of the contest, but the Los Angeles bench - usually so dependable - did not register a point in the quarter. York and Price each accounted for nine as Erie led, 69-42, at the half.
The D-Fenders won the final two quarters, 57-49. LA shot a collective 52.8 percent in that span, but it was not enough to counter a season-high 34-point deficit.
Los Angeles now prepares for the second game of its road stretch, set to take place against the Maine Red Claws at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Portland Exposition Building.
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