GREENSBORO, N.C. — Marcus Paige nailed a floater down the lane with 5.4 seconds left to propel the Greensboro Swarm over the South Bay Lakers, 110-108, in the home finale on Tuesday night at the Fieldhouse at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Paige had eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, none bigger than his heroic go-ahead shot to hold off the Lakers.
Greensboro (16-32) held a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter, only to see the Lakers (28-20) fight back and pull within one possession in the last minute. Trailing, 108-100, South Bay scored the next eight points and tied the game on a Scott Machado layup with 21.2 seconds left. It was on the ensuing possession the Paige connected on the floater over the defending Andre Ingram.
However, South Bay had a golden opportunity to tie the game. Gary Payton II drove to the basket and was fouled on a desperation shot under the hoop, earning two free throws with 0.7 on the clock. Payton missed on the first and intentionally missed on the second in hopes of a putback on the rebound but the ball was slapped away by Mangok Mathiang as time expired.
Along with his 17 points, Paige also added four assists and two steals. Mathiang had eight points and nine rebounds. John Dawson scored a career-high with 19 points off the bench. Damien Wilkins scored 19 points with six rebounds and six assists. Luke Petrasek contributed 12 points and five rebounds. The Swarm shot 47 percent as a team.
The Lakers shot 42 percent and were led by Thomas Bryant’s 27 points and eight rebounds. Payton had 24 points off the bench, to go with five rebounds and three steals. Alex Caruso had 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Machado and Ingram each had 15 points as well.