By Rotowire

Lakers Gaming picked up its first win in the regular season with a scrappy 56-52 victory over Grizz Gaming on Thursday.

In a battle of winless teams, Lakers Gaming fought its way to its first ever regular season win and moved from 21st to 14th in the standings. The Lakers played well enough in the first half, totaling five steals to one turnover in the first half but couldn’t convert on its offensive attempts. Fortunately for the Lakers, it had enough energy to overcome its slow start. Center Mootyy picked up player of the match honors with 12 points, 17 rebounds and five assists but perhaps more important was the energy he brought to his squad. Lakers Gaming dominated the third quarter, limiting the Grizz to only six points while scoring 14 of their own, ending the quarter on a 12-to-1 run. A big team effort from the entire ensemble, with Kev scoring 15 on efficient shooting and pure lock Vert contributing 13 of his own, ensured that the Lakers stayed ahead down the stretch. After some technical mishaps, KontruL sunk a clutch free throw to ice the game and wrap up a hard-fought win.

Grizz Gaming, in comparison, was flat throughout the game. Sure, the Grizz held a two point lead heading into the second half but that came with poor ball security from Memphis. The Grizz coughed up the ball five times in the first half and ended the game with eight turnovers, giving the upstart Lakers chances to not only come back into the game but to wrestle control away from the veteran Grizz. Down the stretch, the Grizz just couldn’t seem to get stops when it mattered, and sloppy fouls meant that the Grizz had to fight an uphill battle to come back from a three-point deficit late in the game. A bad shooting night for the Grizz against a team still struggling to find its footing was back-breaking for the still-winless Grizz, with none of the starting lineup scoring more than ToXsiK’s 13. This game was a roller coaster of emotion and technical issues but the Grizz simply couldn’t keep up and so fall to last place in the league with a record of 0-3.