Men’s Basketball: Camper dominates Vikings’ opening weekend at COD Tournament

Sophomore Chris Camper made some serious noise in his first three games as a Viking this weekend. The former Long Beach Poly High School standout averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds on his way to all-tournament team honors to help lead Long Beach City College to a 2-1 showing at the season-opening College of the Desert Tip-Off Classic tournament.

Camper got the season started in impressive fashion, posting a line of 31 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and five steals in LBCC's opening-night overtime loss to Glendale Community College of Arizona on Thursday. The Vikings led 41-38 at halftime but couldn't hold on.

LBCC trailed by three points at 91-88 with one minute left in regulation before freshman Breamon Richard (University HS) nailed a three-pointer with just two second left to send the game to overtime. In OT, sophomore Mena Saad's (West Torrance HS) three-pointer gave Long Beach a 97-95 advantage with 2:55 to go. But Glendale outscored the Vikings 9-4 the rest of the game to hand LBCC the defeat.

Long Beach got 17 points from freshman Ahmad Malone (Chicago, IL) and 15 points from Richard in the loss to Glendale.

The Vikings bounced back on Friday with a 71-56 victory over Imperial Valley College. Long Beach was up 34-21 before cruising to the 15-point win. Camper once again led with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Malone came off the bench to score 12 points. Freshman Jeremiah Blandin (Poly HS) led the Vikings with 12 rebounds to go with seven points.

Long Beach closed out the weekend with a 97-84 win over Grossmont College in the tournament consolation championship game.

Camper posted his third straight double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Richard totaled 22 points and five rebounds. Richard was 3 for 5 from three-point range, part of the Vikings' 10 for 17 effort on the night.

Sophomore Rolland Pearsall (Lawndale HS) was a perfect 10 for 10 on free throws on his way to 15 points. Malone and Saad both sank a pair of three-pointers to total 12 points each.

Long Beach returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 14) when the Vikings hit the road for a 2 p.m. non-conference game at Imperial Valley.