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D-Fenders Surge Past Flash
Los Angeles 95, Utah 71

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The Los Angeles D-Fenders jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 95-71 victory over the Utah Flash Sunday at STAPLES Center.

Los Angeles (16-8) enjoyed their return home as they broke a four game losing streak, all on the road. The game was delayed 30 minutes due to a stoppage during the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game beforehand; however, Cecil Brown did not cool off during the wait. After scoring 41 points the night before at Idaho, Brown dropped in 21 points in the first half of tonight’s game, giving the D-Fenders a comfortable 51-41 lead at the break.

“I thought the difference tonight was our defense. We turned our defense up in order to get off the losing streak that we were on.” said D-Fenders Assistant Coach Chucky Brown. “We made a concentrated effort to help each other out on defense.”

Los Angeles used a 22-2 run to begin the fourth quarter, extending their lead to 38 with 4:52 remaining in the contest. Utah fell to 13-12 on the season with the loss.

Brown and D-Fenders forward Sean Banks finished with a game high 24 points. Banks’ other major contributions came on the defensive end of the court with 11 rebounds and 3 steals, while holding Morris Almond, a Utah Jazz assigned player, to 8 points on 3-14 shooting.

“Los Angeles really came out and made some shots in the fourth quarter,” said Flash Head Coach Brad Jones. “They started the quarter on a run and they took the life out of us. They were the aggressors all night long and at the end, that is what did us in.”

Utah was led by Kevin Kruger and James Lang who scored 10 and 11, respectively. As a team, Utah was held to just 30.9% shooting.

Los Angeles and Utah will square off again Tuesday, with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled tip-off at STAPLES Center.