Chaffey won the battle of pace, but Long Beach won the war, 53-50, with a 3-pointer by Davarrus Bryant punctuating a decisive 9-0 run late in the second half.
Long Beach (22-6) shot just 28% from the floor for the game, but got key contributions from several unexpected sources to slip past Chaffey (20-11) in a battle of #8-seed vs. #9-seed in a regional quarterfinal.
And no source could have been more unexpected than Bryant, who even after scoring 9 pts is still averaging less than 3 points per game. The 6-7 freshman is mainly known for his defense and rebounding - he did well in those categories, as usual, with 6 blocked shots and 11 rebounds - and the 3-point basket that gave the Vikings a 47-39 lead with under 4 minutes to go was his first of the season.
About the only more surprising source of scoring for Long Beach than Bryant might have been reserve forward Simmie Shelton, who entered the game averaging 1.4 points per game. But Shelton scored consecutive baskets to start the key run. And when he missed his third shot attempt, Bryant was there for the putback moments before the staggering 3-pointer.
That scoring outburst represented much of the little offense that either team could muster. But it was a key factor as Chaffey received scoring just just five players while nine different Vikings made at least one field goal for Long Beach.
Early on, Long Beach took an 8-2 lead as Chaffey missed 6 of its first 7 shots while mixing in 4 turnovers over the game's first 7 minutes. But after that the teams played on mostly even terms for the rest of the half. Chaffey took an 11-10 lead on a basket by Chris Edward just before the midway point.
The lead went back and forth several times until another unexpected source of scoring struck for Long Beach. Mena Saad, who entered the game averaging 3.9 points per game, made back-to-back 3-pointers for the Vikings, giving the home team a 27-22 lead. Long Beach led 29-23 at the half after Brandon Staton knifed through the lane and scored just before the halftime horn.
Victor Joseph scored a pair of baskets for Chaffey to start the second half, cutting the Panthers' deficit to two points at 29-27. Gaines made a three for Long Beach to push the lead back to seven points at 36-29, but then Chaffey rallied again.
A driving lay-up by Carl Robinson brought Chaffey within a point at 37-36 with 9:20 to play, and two free throws by Joseph gave the CHP its first lead of the second half at 38-37 with exactly eight minutes left on the clock. Chris Spencer banked in a free throw for Long Beach to tie the score, but Mateu Vilakazi put Chaffey back in front with a free throw to make it 39-38.
That's when Shelton and Bryant combined for the key 9-0 run, giving Long Beach a 47-39 lead. Chaffey got pairs of free throws from Edward and Joseph to get within four points at 47-43 with 1:45 left, but never quite caught up.
Gaines scored for Long Beach with 1:21 left to make it 49-43. Then after Breejae Flonnoy and Joseph missed 3-point tries for Chaffey, Staton made two free throws with 35.3 seconds left to give the Vikings a 51-43 lead. Two free throws by Gaines with 19.2 seconds left made it a 10-point game at 53-43.
Chaffey tried one last, desperate rally, but never really threatened to catch up. Flonnoy made a 40-foot 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left. Then after Shelton missed two free throws, Chaffey scored again when Robinson passed to Edwards for a basket with 5.0 seconds left. Following a Long Beach turnover, Chaffey got one last basket when Vilakazi scored on a putback as the final horn sounded.
Staton finished with 11 pts for Long Beach despite a horrific 3-for-20 shooting line, and he added 7 rebs and 4 asts. Gaines also had 11 pts and added 6 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Bryant was the standout for Long Beach with his 9 pts, more than three times his average, plus game-highs of 11 rebs and 6 blocks. He also had his career high in points against Chaffey, scoring 11 in a game at the Saddleback tournament last December.
For Chaffey, Joseph led all scorers with 16 pts. Flonnoy had 13 pts, and Edward had a solid game with 10 pts, 8 rebs and 4 blocked shots. Robinson had 5 pts, a team-high 4 asts and a game-high 6 steals.
With the win, Long Beach improves to 22-6 on the season and will face the winner of tomorrow's Mt. SAC vs. Rio Hondo quarterfinal. Chaffey finishes 20-11.
box score
Friday, February 27, 2015 - 7 pm
at the LBCC Hall of Champions
Playoffs - Southern Regional Quarterfinal
Chaffey Panthers 50:
4-Breejae Flonnoy, PG - 4/13 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 13 pts
14-Donovan Taylor, PF - 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
24-Carl Robinson, SG - 2/9 fg, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 6 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
30-Mateu Vilakazi, SF - 2/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
32-Chris Edward, C - 4/13 fg, 2/2 ft, 8 reb, 4 blk, 2 pf, 10 pts
12-Victor Joseph, G - 4/14 fg, 8/10 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 16 pts
25-Mufaro Murinda, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
42-Tyler Warren, C - 2 pf, 0 pts
10-Brandon Shaw, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
35-Kalil Glover, C - 2 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 16/56 fg (.286), 15/18 ft (.833), 40 reb, 8 ast, 6 blk, 10 stl, 15 pf, 50 pts
3-pt fg (3): Flonnoy, Robinson, Vilakazi
Turnovers (11): Robinson 4, Taylor 2, Flonnoy, Vilakazi, Edward, Murinda, Warren
Long Beach Vikings 53:
3-Elijah Gaines, SF - 3/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
11-Chris Spencer, PF - 1/8 fg, 2/8 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
15-Mena Saad, SG - 2/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
21-Brandon Staton, PG - 3/20 fg, 4/4 ft, 7 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
33-Davarrus Bryant, C - 4/8 fg, 11 reb, 6 blk, 3 pf, 9 pts
1-Andre Springer, G - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
31-Michael Shivers, F - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 3 pts
50-Jovan Pearson, C - 0/1 fg, 1 blk, 0 pts
4-Isaac Stell, G - 1/2 fg, 1 blk, 2 pf, 3 pts
42-Ryan Stewart, F - 1/1 fg, 4 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Simmie Shelton, F - 2/4 fg, 0/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 pf, 4 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 18/64 fg (.281), 11/21 ft (.524), 54 reb, 12 ast, 11 blk, 6 stl, 19 pf, 53 pts
3-pt fg (6): Saad 2, Gaines, Staton, Bryant, Stell
Turnovers (12): Gaines 3, Springer 3, Spencer, Saad, Staton, Shivers, Pearson, Stewart
Halftime Score: Long Beach 29, Chaffey 23
Updated Records: Long Beach (#8-seed) 22-6, Chaffey (#9-seed) 20-11
LBCC led 8-2 early as Chaffey started the game going 1-for-7 with 4 turnovers.
Chaffey took a lead at 11-10, and the lead changed hands several times.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Saad gave LBCC a 27-22 lead late in the 1st half.
Chaffey took a 39-38 lead with about 6 minutes left.
LBCC went back in front with a 9-0 run consisting of points by Bryant and Shelton and punctuated by Bryant's 1st 3-pointer of the season.
Staton and Gaines each made 2 FTs in the last 35.3 seconds to help clinch it for LBCC.
