OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce beat Lodi 56-53 on Saturday, June 29, and improved to 11-5 this summer. The Jayhawks made nine 3-pointers, and Andre Iguodala II took over late to hold off Lodi's comeback.
Lodi opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, but Head-Royce answered right away. Iguodala scored on a feed from Bryce Clepper, and Nick Taubes followed with a basket off a Jack Peay assist for a 4-3 lead. Clepper's 3-pointer and another Iguodala basket made it 9-4, and a Micah Nyamuzuwe 3-pointer pushed the lead to 12-6. Jonah Greenberg scored off a turnover to make it 14-7 before Lodi scored six straight points and cut the gap to 14-13. Alex Jones hit a 3-pointer off the bench, but Lodi scored the next five points and took an 18-17 lead.
Head-Royce answered with a 12-0 run that turned the game. Lamarr Covington tied the score and then put the Jayhawks back in front with two free throws. Nyamuzuwe followed with a basket and a 3-pointer, Jones hit his second 3-pointer and Clepper scored to make it 29-18. Mikael Akpala and Nyamuzuwe each added 3-pointers off Clepper assists, and Nyamuzuwe's third 3-pointer of the stretch put Head-Royce ahead 39-26, its largest lead of the game.
Lodi kept coming. Four straight free throws made it 39-30, and after Nyamuzuwe scored five straight points for a 42-30 lead, Lodi closed to 43-39. Iguodala hit a 3-pointer off a Tua Montoya assist and then a free throw for a 47-39 lead, but Lodi scored the next six points and cut the gap to 47-45. Iguodala answered with baskets off assists from Nyamuzuwe and Clepper and then made three of his free throws, which kept the lead at 54-50. Clepper made two free throws in the final stretch, the last one after a Lodi 3-pointer had cut the lead to 55-53, and that sealed the win.
Iguodala finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, along with three blocks and two steals. He made 6 of 8 free throws and scored 11 of Head-Royce's final 13 points. Nyamuzuwe also scored 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Clepper ran the offense with nine assists and no turnovers and added seven points and five rebounds. Jones came off the bench to score six points on two 3-pointers.
Both teams shot about the same from the field. Head-Royce made 18 of 46 shots (39.1 percent), and Lodi made 19 of 48 (39.6 percent). The difference came from beyond the arc: the Jayhawks made 9 of 23 from 3-point range, while Lodi made 5 of 16, a 27-15 edge for Head-Royce. Head-Royce had assists on 13 of its 18 field goals, got 15 points from its bench and made 11 of 16 free throws. Lodi won the rebounding battle 28-24.
Head-Royce has won two straight and is 11-5 this summer.