The state-ranked No. 6 Long Beach City College Vikings suffered a tough 77-74 overtime loss to the No. 5 East Los Angeles College Huskies on Friday evening in the Hall of Champions. The Vikings were competitive with the Huskies during the entire game. The lead changed eight different times and the two teams tied the score on 11 different occasions throughout the game. With the loss, the Vikings drop to 15-3 overall.
The Huskies were first on the board in the fourth minute of the game. Freshman guard Jace Bass answered back with a jumper to tie the game for the first time. He led the first half with nine points and had four rebounds. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Sadler was a constant threat at the three point line as he went two-for-two in the first half. The Vikings took control offensively and held the 38-33 lead at halftime.
The Huskies came out in the second half ready to compete as they hit back-to-back shots to catch up to Long Beach. The Vikings competed with the higher ranked team as the time wore down. The Huskies then found themselves tied with the Vikings 60-60 with one minute left in the game.
East Los Angeles smashed a jumper and hit two free-throws to take the lead by three with less than a minute left in the game. Sadler wasn't done yet as nailed two points for Long Beach, but the Huskies answered with two shots at the line to extend their lead 65-62. Then sophomore guard Jordan Heard pulled out a three pointer to only trail by one point with 19 seconds left. The Huskies made one more free throw and then Bass found himself at the rim to send the game into overtime at 67-67.
East Los Angeles took the immediate lead, but then sophomore forward Charles Smith hit the shot to tie the game 69-69. The Huskies took a four point lead with 35 seconds left in the game, and the Vikings weren't able to catch up and eventually fell to East Los Angeles 77-74.
Bass led the team with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and had three steals. Sadler was right behind him with 14 points, seven assists and had three steals.
The No. 6 Vikings will return to action in their first South Coast Conference game at home on Wednesday, Jan. 23 against No. 10 Cerritos College at 5 p.m.
