The reeling Santa Cruz Warriors had no solution for slowing guard Naz Mitrou-Long and his Salt Lake City Stars teammates on the perimeter Tuesday night.

Then again, how do you defend en fuego?

The Warriors watched Mitrou-Long drain eight of his team’s 16 3-pointers in a 117-108 loss to the NBA G League’s worst team. Mitrou-Long finished with a game-high 32 points,

Salt Lake City shot 48 percent from beyond the arc, taking 33 attempts. The Stars’ success rate helped sugar-coat any bad taste left from 23 turnovers.

Damian Jones, a 7-foot center on assignment from Golden State, helped Santa Cruz shoot 57 percent from the field (44 of 77). He was 13 of 15 and finished with a team-high 27 points,

The Warriors (18-16) remain in third place in the Pacific Division, 3.5 games behind leader South Bay (21-12).

It was the first meeting between the teams since former Warriors standout Georges Niang signed a two-way deal with Utah on Jan. 14. Niang, a 6-8, 230-pound forward out of Iowa State, scored 20 against his former teammates. He also had five rebounds, four assists, and a game-high eight turnovers.

Niang averaged 18.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists with Santa Cruz earlier this season.

The Warriors are 2-6 since his departure, including a foul-riddled, 122-113 loss to host Northern Arizona on Saturday. Santa Cruz led the Suns by 17 points in the third quarter but lost for the fourth time this season after holding a lead of 16 or more points

Santa Cruz also built up a double-digit lead against the Stars in the second quarter, but the Stars went on a 9-2 run to tie the score at 59-all just before the half. A successful pull-up jumper from Quinn Cook gave Santa Cruz a 61-59 lead at the break.

The Warriors hadn’t heard the last from the Stars (10-27), the last team in the league to reach 10 wins and unchallenged for last place in the Southwest Division.

Center Diamond Stone had 24 points and eight rebounds for Salt Lake City, Charles Cook scored 17 points in 26 minutes off the bench and starter Taylor Braun added 12 points.

James Southerland drained a pair of 3s late in the fourth quarter as the Warriors entertained thoughts of a furious comeback. But the Stars made enough of their free throws down the stretch to keep it a three-possession game.

Salt Lake City made 25 of 33 free-throw attempts.

Southerland finished with 10 points. Cook, a two-way guard, led the Warriors in rebounding with six to go along with his 20 points and seven assists. Starting forward Terrence Jones scored 12 points.

Damion Lee added 23 points in 31 minutes off the bench and two-way forward Chris Boucher played just six minutes and was held scoreless.

The Warriors face the Stars in Utah again next Tuesday. Before then, they return home for a two-game homestand, facing Texas on Friday night and South Bay on Sunday night.

Contact Jim Seimas at 831-706-3256.