Five players scored in double figures for Long Beach City, which jumped out to an early lead and never let visiting #11 LA Harbor get back into the game Friday night in an SCC-South showdown at the LBCC Hall of Champions.
It was a foul-filled game - there were 57 fouls called, including 3 technical fouls, which led to an NBA-like total of 75 free throws attempted - but despite foul trouble for all five starters Long Beach (10-6, 2-0) built a 22-point halftime lead and led by at least 15 points the entire second half.
Long Beach led 11-1 after SG Carlos Sanchez made a 3-point basket moments after making 3 free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. The Vikings stretched the lead to 15 points at 23-8 after a putback basket by PF Manny Correa. A 3-pointer by SG Kristien Owens made it 26-10.
At that point, LA Harbor (12-4, 1-1) had made just 2 of 13 shot attempts. The rest of the way the Seahawks shot a respectable 46% from the floor - comparable to Long Beach's game total of 50% - but the slow start put Harbor into a hole it could never climb out of.
Long Beach pushed its lead to 19 points at 37-18 after SF Chris Spencer made a short jumper with 5:45 left in the first half. Harbor cut the margin to four points at 37-22, but then SF Elijah Gaines made back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 43-22. PG Brandon Staton pushed the lead to 23 points at 45-22 with 3:48 left in the half. The Vikings led by 22 points at 50-28 at the half.
Harbor tried several times to rally in the second half, but never got closer than 15 points. A 3-point play by SF Anthony Foster made it 56-38 with 15:40 left, and a basket by SF Dushone Brown off a pass from Foster made it 60-44. Midway through the second half, Harbor coach Tony Carter-Loza put on a fullcourt press. And by the 8-minute mark, four Vikings were in foul trouble with 4 personal fouls each.
Yet, Long Beach never led Harbor get back into the game. The Seahawks drew within 15 points at 77-62 with 7:10 left and trailed by 15 again at 81-66, but then Foster fouled out with 5:50 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Sanchez pushed the LBCC led back to 23 points at 94-71 with 3:15 left. At that point, Viking coach Barry Barnes called timeout and instructed his guards to manage the clock rather than continue to score, which was the only thing that kept Long Beach from racing past the 100-point mark.
Staton led all scorers with 22 pts for the Vikings, which posted their 4th straight win and their 4th win of 2014. Owens came off the bench for 17 pts and 4 asts. Sanchez had 14 pts, Gaines nad 13 and Spencer came off the bench for 13 pts, 5 rebs and 4 asts. Ctr Mwelu Mataya scored just 6 pts but added game-highs of 10 rebs and 4 blocked shots as well as 5 asts. PF Ryan Stewart had 8 pts and 9 rebs to just miss a double-double.
For Harbor, SG Kenneth Greene came off the bench for 17 pts, 15 in the second half, on 7-for-9 from the floor. Ctr Elliot Morris had 13 pts and 8 rebs, and PF Andre Foster had 12 pts and 8 rebs. Anthony Foster had 11 pts and a game-high 6 asts, and PG Brandon Boyd had 10 pts.
The win moves Long Beach into a tie atop the SCC-South with a 2-0 record, and the Vikings will take on co-leader Cerritos at home next Wednesday. The loss snaps Harbor's 6-game win streak and drops the Seahawks' record to 12-4 overall and 1-1 in SCC play.
box score
Friday, January 10, 2014 - 5 pm
at the Hall of Champions, Long Beach
South Coast Conference - South Division
LA Harbor Seahawks 80:
2-Elliot Morris, C - 4/7 fg, 5/5 ft, 8 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
3-Brandon Boyd, PG - 4/9 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 10 pts
4-Anthony Foster, SF - 4/12 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 5 pf, 11 pts
5-Andre Foster, PF - 3/7 fg, 6/10 ft, 8 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 12 pts
32-Jamar Cannon, SG - 1/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
25-Stevie Knox, G - 2/4 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
10-Dushone Brown, F - 2/10 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 7 pts
23-Kenneth Greene, G - 7/9 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 2 pf, 17 pts
55-Cary Brooks, C - 0/3 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 27/67 fg (.403), 25/38 ft (.658), 38 reb, 17 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 27 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (1): Knox
Technical Foul: Cannon
Fouled Out: Cannon 9:35 left, Anthony Foster 5:50 left
Turnovers (11): Anthony Foster 3, Boyd 2, Knox 2, Morris, Andre Foster, Cannon, Brown
Long Beach Vikings 99:
3-Elijah Gaines, SF - 4/8 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 5 pf, 13 pts
5-Carlos Sanchez, SG - 4/7 fg, 3/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 14 pts
21-Brandon Staton, PG - 8/14 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 22 pts
23-Mwelu Mataya, C - 3/8 fg, 0/1 ft, 10 reb, 5 ast, 4 blk, 4 pf, 6 pts
42-Ryan Stewart, PF - 3/5 fg, 2/3 ft, 9 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
32-Kristien Owens, G - 5/11 fg, 5/7 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 17 pts
11-Chris Spencer, F - 3/7 fg, 7/10 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 pf, 13 pts
15-Manny Correa, F - 2/3 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
4-Andre Springer, G - 0/1 fg, 2 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
44-Evion Harris, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 32/64 fg (.500), 26/37 ft (.703), 49 reb, 16 ast, 5 blk, 5 stl, 30 pf, 99 pts
3-pt fg (9) Sanchez 3, Gaines 2, Staton 2, Owens 2
Technical Fouls: Staton, Owens
Fouled Out: Gaines 3:01 left
Turnovers (14): Mataya 4, Stewart 2, Spencer 2, Gaines, Sanchez, Staton, Owens, Springer, Harris
Halftime Score: Long Beach 50, LA Harbor 28
Updated Records: Long Beach 10-6, 2-0 in SCC; LA Harbor 12-4, 1-1 in SCC
Long Beach jumped out to leads of 11-1 and 23-8 and led wire to wire.
