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Sunday marks the start of the 2021 G League Showcase Cup featuring the eight teams that qualified for the tournament.
Qualifiers were determined by the results from the regional pods that took place over the past six weeks across the country. The four teams teams with the best winning percentage in each region automatically qualified. The rest of the field was determined by winning percentage, regardless of region.
The Salt Lake City Stars won the inaugural tournament during the 2019-20 season. There was no tournament last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament is a single-elimination format, with the championship game scheduled to be play on Wednesday.
G League Showcase Cup Results
No. 4 South Bay Lakers def. No. 5 Wisconsin Herd, 119-112
No. 1 Delaware Blue Coats def. No. 8 Fort Wayne Mad Ants, 126-101
No. 6 Oklahoma City Blue vs. No. 3 Rio Grande Valley Vipers (8 p.m. ET)
No. 7 Motor City Cruise vs. No. 2 Maine Celtics (11:30 p.m. ET)
South Bay Lakers 119. Wisconsin Herd 112
The South Bay Lakers rode two big quarters to earn a 119-112 victory over the Wisconsin Herd in the G League Showcase Cup opener.
Coming out of the first quarter with the score tied at 25, the Lakers held a two-point lead at the intermission after putting up 32 points in the second quarter. Cameron Oliver had the go-ahead bucket with a layup with 23.8 seconds to play before intermission.
The Lakers broke the game open with a 40-29 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Nate Pierre-Louis scored eight of his 19 points, including two three-pointers, in the period.
Wisconsin did make things interesting late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 113-100 with just over four minutes to play, the Herd went on a 12-2 run to get within three points.
The Lakers responded with Paris Bass scoring on a dunk assisted by Mac McClung to get the lead back up to five. Mason Jones made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
Jones finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Paris Bass was an unstoppable force in the paint with 23 points (10-of-15 field goals) and 18 rebounds in 32 minutes.
Jelen Lecque led Wisconsin in scoring with 22 points off the bench.
Delaware Blue Coats 126, Ft. Wayne Mad Ants 101
No. 1 overall seed Delaware had no problem in its tournament opener with a 126-101 win over the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants.
The Blue Coats came out on fire with 39 points in the first quarter. They made a total of seven three-pointers in the game, with four coming in the opening period.
Charlie Brown Jr. was excellent on both ends of the court in the win. He had 19 points (5-of-8 from three), grabbed five defensive rebounds and had four steals.
Delaware Blue Coats @blue_coats
CB built different. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GetYourCoatsOn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#GetYourCoatsOn</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/charleskbrownjr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@charleskbrownjr</a><br> <a href=”https://t.co/lspEI3uMFM”>pic.twitter.com/lspEI3uMFM</a>
Delaware’s defense had a good game overall. It held Ft. Wayne to just 17 percent shooting from behind the arc.
On the offensive end, this was a balanced effort for the Blue Coats. Brown led the team in scoring. He was one of six players to reach double-figures in scoring. Aaron Henry had 17 points off the bench.
Jarron Cumberland finished plus-28 in 22 minutes. He scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Paul Reed outmuscled Ft. Wayne’s big men with 23 points and 19 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
Duane Washington Jr. led the Mad Ants in scoring with 22 points, but he only shot 7-of-17 from the field and committed five turnovers.
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