Regular Season Championship
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Clippers 50    Lakers 45
The championship game was marked by a tightly contested first half, a third quarter blitz by the victorious Clippers, and a furious comeback by the Lakers in the final quarter. The Lakers took the early lead on buckets in the paint by Brady Carter and Mike Braun, but Matt Rainbolt’s 7 points staked the Clippers to a 12-11 lead at the quarter break. The Clippers got scoring from Joey Geraghty and Matt Swanson in the second period, while holding the Lakers to 6 points, to lead at half-time 23-17. Swanson and Rainbolt led a third-quarter charge that appeared to put the game out of reach at 43-24 entering the last quarter. The Lakers had other ideas, though. Inho Choi began firing away from outside, and a timely bucket by Adam Weishoff helped chop the Clippers lead to 43-32. Dan Manton answered the Lakers’ run with a 3-pointer that appeared to be a back-breaker with a little over 3 minutes to play. But Choi hit two quick 3-pointers and J.T. Gregory added another, and the Lakers were back in serious contention at 46-42 with 30 precious seconds left on the clock. At that point, Rainbolt’s two clutch free throws and a Swanson breakaway finally sealed the Clippers win. Rainbolt, with 18, and Swanson (17) led the Clippers in scoring; Martin had 9 and Geraghty 6. For the Lakers, Choi led with 18 points, 14 coming in the final quarter. Braun added 10 and Gregory 8. Weishoff chipped in with 4, Brian Estes 3, and Carter 2.