Legends lose a tough one to Salt Lake

The Legends looked to get the ship righted on Saturday night when they hosted the Jazz affiliate Salt Lake City Stars. They unfortunately took another one on the chin as they fell, 132-128.

The Stars were led by former Iowa State star Georges Niang with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Guard Erik McRee also pitched in with 28. Points.

For Texas, it was the Brandon Ashley show. He filled up the stat sheet with 36 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists.

When asked whether or not it was the best game he’d seen him play, teammate Jameel Warney simply said, “Yeah. Probably.”

One of the more electrifying games of the year for the Legends, came down to a couple critical 50/50 calls that unfortunately did not go the Legends way. Down three with under a minute to go, the Legends needed one stop to have a chance to tie the game.

And they forced the miss they needed, and appeared to Motley appeared to secure the rebound cleanly. But a late, and quite frankly phantom loose ball foul would give the ball right back to the Stars.

After playing the foul game for a few possessions, they had the lead down to three with just 14 seconds to play.

The Legends predictably drew up a play for what was their best player all night in Brandon Ashley. Ashley isolated on the left wing, took his man off the dribble and spun quickly back to the baseline. And when he did, his elbow may or may not have come in contact with the defenders head.

Unfortunatley, the ref deemed the foul offensive, and awarded the ball back to the Stars who would sink a pair and put the game away.

When asked about the controversial fouls, Assistant coach Zendom Hamilton chuckled and said, “I’m not doing that.”

While they finished strong, the start was sub-par. It was more of the same sloppiness and horrid defense of the night before.

Given the loss of three critical pieces in their backcourt, it seems understandable.

“It’s tough.” Coach Hamilton said.

“You known Willie, Damon, and Duke, they havent gotten any practices in so it’s tough. But, there’s no excuses.”

Aside from the turnovers the offense stil ran relatively efficiently, as they still managed to put up as many points as they did.

Unfortunately, the defense continues to be the issue. Salt Lake is one of the worst teams on both ends in the G-League, and they were able to put up 132 on 56 percent shooting.

“It wasn’t there.” Coach said of his teams effort on defense.

The Legends will have quite a bit of time to get things corrected before they take on the skyforce on March 3rd.