Sophomore Brandon Staton (Poly HS) scored a career-high 31 points to help lead the Long Beach City College men's basketball team to a 69-66 win over Cypress College in the Vikings' home opener at the Hall of Champions Gym on Wednesday.
With the win, the Vikings evened their record to 2-2 overall.
Long Beach led 37-28 at halftime before Cypress opened the second outscoring the Vikings 14-4 to jump ahead 42-41 at the 15-minute mark.
The squads changed leads numerous times throughout the remainder of the second, before Staton took over late. He scored 13 of the Vikings' final 15 points, including his layup with 40 seconds to play to put Long Beach ahead for good.
Sophomore Chris Spencer (Jordan HS) came up with a pair of big defensive plays to secure the victory. He blocked Jeremy Wright's three-point attempt with 12 seconds left and came up with a game-ending steal as time expired to deny the Chargers a final shot.
Spencer totaled 11 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Staton was nearly perfect at the free throw line as he shot 12 for 14 to go along with three steals. Sophomore Elijah Gaines (San Pedro HS) also chipped in with nine points.
Wright led Cypress (0-3) with 19 points while Nolan Kelley added 12 points and six rebounds.
Long Beach returns to action on November 20-22 when the Vikings will compete at the Irvine Valley Classic tournament.