Sophomore Chris Camper (Poly HS) posted a double-double with a season-high 34 points to go with 12 rebounds, but Long Beach City College couldn't hold a late lead and ultimately fell 87-81 in overtime to the visiting Cerritos College Falcons in a crucial South Coast Conference South Division game at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym on Wednesday.
Both squads entered the contest unbeaten in SCC South play but it was Cerritos (16-9, 4-0 SCC) that left in sole possession of first place. The loss snapped the Vikings' four-game losing streak and dropped them to 12-11 overall and 3-1 in the SCC South.
Camper made a pair of free throws with 1:08 left in the second half to extend the Vikings' lead to 66-56 over the Falcons. From that point, Cerritos caught on fire while LBCC missed six free throws over the final minute. The Falcons made six of its final seven shots, including three 3-pointers over the final 25 seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, LBCC and Cerritos exchanged leads seven times before the Falcons held on for good. Freshman Breamon Richard's (University HS) three-pointer with 1:43 to play in OT put LBCC up 81-80 before Cerritos closed out the contest with a 7-0 run to secure the victory.
Free throw shooting doomed the Vikings, as they made 29 of 55 attempts from the charity stripe.
Freshman Ahmad Malone (Chicago, IL/St. Francis de Sales HS) tied a season-high with 19 points and added seven rebounds while sophomore Rolland Pearsall (Lawndale HS) added 12 points and Richard scored 11 points.
Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Feb. 5) at 7 p.m. when the Vikings travel to Los Angeles Southwest College for a SCC South Division game.