Men’s Basketball: Vikings hold off Chaffey 53-50 to open Southern California Playoffs

Sophomore Elijah Gaines had 11 points in the Vikings' playoff victory over Chaffey (Photo by John Fajardo)
Sophomore Elijah Gaines had 11 points in the Vikings' playoff victory over Chaffey (Photo by John Fajardo)

Sophomore guard Elijah Gaines (San Pedro HS) and Brandon Staton (Poly HS) both scored 11 points to lead Long Beach City College to a 53-50 win over Chaffey College at LBCC's Hall of Champions Gym in a second-round game of the 2015 Southern California Regional Playoffs.

With the win, No. 8 seeded Long Beach improved to 22-6 overall while No. 9 Chaffey saw its season end with a 20-11 record.

The Vikings led 29-23 at the break while the second half was just as tight. With 1:46 to play, Chaffey got within four points at 47-43 before Long Beach rallied for six straight points to give the Vikings a 10-point lead (53-43) and put the game out of reach.  

Freshman Davarrus Bryant (Venice HS) nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds while sophomore Chris Spencer (Jordan HS) had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with four points.

Long Beach advances to Round 4 of the regional playoffs and will travel to No. 1 seed Mt. San Antonio College for a 5 p.m. game on March 4.