Men’s basketball
Ryan Smith, assistant Sports editor
Former UCLA men’s basketball standouts and top-20 NBA draft picks in June, T.J. Leaf and Lonzo Ball have impressed so far for their new teams at the NBA Summer League.
Second overall pick Lonzo Ball made his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Friday night and showcased his playmaking ability from the jump. His first touch ended up being a perfect lob pass to forward and second-year player Brandon Ingram for the alley-oop finish.
Ball finished the night with five points, five assists and four rebounds, but struggled to find a rhythm with his 3-point shot. He shot 1-of-11 from downtown and 2-of-15 overall.
On Saturday, the 2016-17 first team All-American bounced back and accomplished something he had not done at UCLA, recording a triple-double.
Ball scored 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting and pulled in 11 rebounds to go with his 11 assists.
Rookie forward T.J. Leaf also made his NBA Summer League debut with the Indiana Pacers last week in Orlando.
Leaf played in three of Indiana’s five contests and averaged 27 minutes per game, in which he scored 12.7 points a contest for the Pacers.
Leaf was also very active on the glass, hauling in 6.3 rebounds per game. He showcased his efficient offensive game as well, shooting at 48.5 percent for the entirety of summer league play.
Baseball
David Gottlieb, Sports editor
UCLA baseball coach John Savage coached the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team to a five-game series victory over Cuba last week.
Team USA won the first three games played between the two teams to clinch the series. Jon Olsen, the only Bruin joining Savage on the team, pitched a scoreless inning in two of the U.S.’s wins.
Olsen faced the minimum in each of the two outings. The rising junior entered in the sixth inning and struck out two Monday. On Tuesday, the righty came on in relief in the fifth inning and fired 13 pitches to retire the side.
Cuba went on to win the final two games of the five-game series, pushing Team USA down to an 11-3 record. The U.S. will play one game against the Futures Baseball League All-Stars before starting up another five-game series against Japan.
Men’s golf
David Gottlieb, Sports editor
Cole Madey won the 108th Oregon Amateur Championship late last month.
The rising junior shot a 7-under 64 and a 5-under 66 during his two rounds of stroke play. He trailed only once during his six rounds of match play.
“I live about 200 yards from the clubhouse, so I feel really comfortable here,” the West Linn, Oregon, native said. “Everything felt pretty easy and it’s honestly just a lot of fun out here … overall, it was a phenomenal week.”