SANTA CRUZ >> For the Santa Cruz Warriors, little was left on the line. The team was eliminated from postseason contention more than a week ago, and it entered Saturday’s season finale against visiting Reno doubly disappointed following losses (plural) to visiting Iowa a day earlier.

And the Bighorns did little to cheer the Warriors up.

Behind a game-high 27 points from two-way player JaKarr Sampson, the Bighorns grabbed the lead late in the first quarter and never looked back, dropping the Warriors 113-105 in front of 2,476 fans at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The loss by the Warriors (23-27) was the fourth this season to Reno (29-21), and it capped a dismal finish to the 2017-18 campaign. Santa Cruz went 7-16 since the G League Showcase in mid-January.

Terrence Jones led the Warriors with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists off the bench, while Damian Jones, on assignment from Golden State, finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with eight boards. Point guard Jeremy Pargo recorded 16 points and a game-high 12 assists, and Michael Gbinije had 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

Slowing Reno from deep was a different matter. The Bighorns shot 51 percent (45 of 88) from the field and made 13 3-pointers.

And, really, Saturday’s outcome meant little to the Bighorns as well.

Before the first quarter was even complete, Reno had already clinched the Pacific Division crown and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference — a result of South Bay (28-22) losing to Austin (32-18) on the road.

The outcome did little to slow the Bighorns’ offensive attack in the first half, when Reno shot 60 percent (28 of 47) from the field and displayed a level of ball movement that might suggest the team has been playing together all season.

Not one that’s lost two players (David Stockton and Aaron Harrison) to 10-day contracts within the last week.

Daniel Ochefu chimed in with 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, while Jack Cooley had 17 points and nine rebounds for Reno.

Friday, Santa Cruz dropped two games to Iowa — the first of which was their replay of the final 17.5 seconds of a Jan. 19 game that the Warriors successfully protested. In the second game, Iowa scored 67 points in the first half and cruised to a 112-101 win.

Saturday, Reno controlled a 69-62 lead at halftime and didn’t trail after Ochefu made a lay-up with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Bighorns led by as many as nine points in the first half, as Josh Hagins caught fire from behind the arc.

The 6-foot-1 guard deposited 16 points off the bench in the first half, making 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

Kevin Young acted as a spark plug late in the first half for the Warriors — and kept the deficit to single digits. The 6-8 forward, earning his first start after being claimed by the Warriors on March 15, scored seven of his nine first-half points in the final 4:32 of the half, including both put-back and alley-oop dunks.

A 9-0 run by the Warriors, capped by a thunderous dunk from Jones, brought Santa Cruz within three points, at 88-85, with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter. But Reno had an answer all night for Santa Cruz’s runs.

And it often came in the form of some beautiful ball movement and a wide-open 3.

Matt Jones’ triple inside the final minute supplied the Bighorns a seven-point lead entering the final stanza. The Warriors lingered but never truly threatened the Bighorns late.

Hagins finished with 18 points in the game for Reno, while Young had 16 for Santa Cruz, which finishes with just its second losing season in team history.

The campaign wasn’t a total loss for the Warriors, though. Santa Cruz had three players earn NBA call-ups over the course of the season, including guard Damion Lee, who on Friday signed a second 10-day contract with the Hawks.

Antonius Cleveland and Georges Niang are currently with the Hawks and Jazz, respectively.

Coach Aaron Miles said prior to Saturday’s game that it’s great for the organization when players find a spot with an NBA club. Last season, Santa Cruz made the playoffs but had zero players earn call-ups — the first and only time that’s happened since the franchise moved to Santa Cruz prior to the 2012-13 season.

“I’m definitely proud and happy for them guys. Great guys,” Miles said in a pregame interview with Warriors play-by-play announcer Kevin Danna and sideline reporter Adam Johnson. “And that’s what this is about — for all of us to develop, to grow and develop, as a coach and as players. To see them get opportunities up in the NBA is lovely.”

The Score

Bighorns 113, Warriors 105

Up Next: End of season