Sophomores Ashton Edwards (pictured) and Tyler Tuliau both scored 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Long Beach City College men's basketball team fell to No. 2 state-ranked Ventura College 88-68 at the Riverside City College Holiday Tournament on Thursday.

The defeat came a day after the Vikings lost to No. 16 Saddleback College 51-41 in an opening-round RCC tournament game on Wednesday.

Against Ventura, LBCC played solid defense by forcing 19 turnovers but couldn't keep up the scoring pace as the Pirates knocked down 11 three-pointers in the contest. Ventura also beat the Vikings on the boards by a 41-29 margin.

Tuliau had another solid game against Saddleback with 20 points and 14 rebounds but Long Beach was still edged by 10 points by the Gauchos.

Both teams had a rough night shooting as the Vikings made just 15 of 54 shots (28 percent) with Saddleback not much better at 32 percent making 18 of 57 attempts.

LBCC outrebounded Saddleback 43-40 but committed 24 turnovers.

Long Beach, now 4-5 overall, returns to action next Thursday (Dec 13) at 3 p.m. when it will face College of the Canyons in an opening-round game of the Bill Brummel Classic at Saddleback.

Photo by John Fajardo