Sophomore Tyler Tuliau (pictured) scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help lead the Long Beach City College men's basketball team to a 74-70 South Coast Conference win over rival Cerritos College on Wednesday night at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Vikings and improved their record to 9-16 overall and 4-7 in conference play.

Tuliau was nearly unstoppable as he made 12 of 15 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from three-point range. The Cerritos defense couldn't contain him, but foul trouble sent him to the bench midway in the second half.

Long Beach led 58-32 at the 12:36 mark in the second before Cerritos put together an 18-2 run to erase a 14-point LBCC advantage. Jordan Reise's three-pointer tied the game at 54 and a pair of free throws by David Hall put Cerritos out in front 56-54 with 7:55 to go.

Down 60-58, the Vikings responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Tuliau's three-pointer with 4:20 gave the Vikings the lead back for good at 62-60 and sophomore Ashton Edwards sank four free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Reise led Cerritos (14-10, 8-3 SCC) with 21 points off the bench. He nailed five three-pointer to ignite the late Cerritos rally. David Hall also chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Edwards nearly posted a triple-double for the Vikings with 15 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Freshman Jacob Cheek scored 11 points and freshman Carlos Sanchez had 10 points.

Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Feb. 15) when I travels to Los Angeles Southwest College for a 7 p.m. SCC game.

Photo by John Fajardo