The Long Beach City College men's basketball team kicked off their 2017-2018 season Wednesday night against newcomers, the Santiago Canyon College Hawks. The Vikings could not recover from an early 10-point lead put on by the Hawks. and the Hawks wouldn't fade away for the rest of the game resulting in a 105-84 defeat for Long Beach.

 

Long Beach struggled to create offensive opportunities during the first two minutes of the game while Santiago jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Freshman Jeremiah Sadler (Long Beach, CA) got the Vikings on the board by converting two free throws. Sadler later went on to make the rest of his free throws, going six for six. The Vikings out shot their opponets during the first half, while the Hawks only made 48%. The Hawks scored seven three pointers and only missed one of their free throws, which gave them 49 points for the first half to Long Beach's 35.

 

Sadler got the Vikings off to a good start in the second half scoring off two layups, which cut the Hawks lead from 14 points to 10. From there Santiago Canyon put on some offensive pressure on the Vikings. Santiago Canyon's Rodney Henderson stepped up and convereted three of his four free throw shots. Santiago's largest lead came with six minutes left in the second half. 

 

Jeremiah Sadler led the team in shots, free throws and assists. Sophmore William English (Long Beach, CA) came off the bench to make seven out of the 10 shots he took, one of which was a good for three. He also converted his two free throw shots and recorded four rebounds for the Vikings.

 

The Vikings (0-1) will take on Bakersfield College on Friday, Nov. 3 at Santa Ana College at 3 p.m.