The Santa Cruz Warriors continued their hot streak on Wednesday morning by squeaking out their fourth straight victory, a 94-92 win over the Grand Rapids Drive on the first day of the G League Showcase in Mississauga, Ontario.
Santa Cruz (16-10) led by 16 early in the fourth quarter, but had to hold off a late run from the Drive (13-14).
Down 10, Grand Rapids went on a 14-5 run to make it a one-point game with 41.1 seconds left. But two-way player Quinn Cook bailed out the Warriors with a layup and a pair of clutch free throws during the final seconds.
Jamel Morris hit a 3-pointer for the Drive with less than a second left, but all it did was a make the final score closer.
Cook poured in a game-high 25 points, made nine assists and grabbed four boards for Santa Cruz, which holds the second-best record in the Western Conference.
Georges Niang (19), Damion Lee (15) and Damian Jones (14) all scored in double figures. Lee grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Niang and Jones hauled in six boards apiece.
Jones, currently on assignment from Golden State, also had three assists and two blocks.
Santa Cruz shot just 44 percent from the field, but the Warriors defense held the Drive to only 37 percent shooting.
Cook found Jones on an alley-oop midway through the first quarter to put the Warriors ahead 9-7, and they led the rest of the way.
Santa Cruz was up 48-38 at the intermission, and led 70-55 heading into the final stanza.
Alex Hamilton split a pair of free throws in the opening minute of the fourth to give Santa Cruz its largest lead of the day, but Grand Rapids slowly chipped away at the deficit and made it a game late.
Santa Cruz plays the red-hot Raptors 905 today at 9 a.m. in their second and final game of the Showcase. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.
