Sophomore Brandon Staton's (Poly HS) layup with 1.5 seconds left proved to be the game winner in No. 11 state-ranked Long Beach City College's 74-71 win over visiting East Los Angeles College on Friday night at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.
The South Coast Conference intercivision victory extended the Vikings' winning streak to eight games while LBCC has won 16 of its last 17 games. Long Beach is now 16-4 overall heading into Wednesday's (Jan. 28) 5 p.m. contest at El Camino College-Compton Center.
Long Beach led 40-38 at halftime but found itself in a back and forth battle in the second half. LBCC was down 70-69 with 2:02 to play after a layup by East Los Angeles' Marcus Romain. But with 1:17 remaining, freshman Michael Shivers (Hannibal, MO) was cool as ice and sank a pair of free throws to put Long Beach back out in front.
Romain was fouled with 30 seconds left and made one of two free throws to give the Huskies a one-point lead. After a Long Beach timeout with 13 seconds to play, Staton dribbled down the lane, connected on his layup and was hammered on the play with just 1.5 seconds left. He then converted his free throw to give the Vikings a three-point advantage.
Romain's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was no good and the Vikings escaped with a come-from-behind victory for the second straight game.
Staton led all with 29 points and made 10 of 14 free throws for LBCC. Coming off his 34 points outburst on Wednesday, sophomore Chris Spencer (Jordan HS) posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Shivers came off the bench to chip in with 10 points.
