SG Versia Hodges scored 25 pts, including 5 threes, as Mt. San Antonio (10-14, 1-2) topped visiting East LA, 66-55, to record its first SCC-North division win of the season Wednesday night.
Hodges scored 17 of his points in the first half as Mt. SAC jumped out to a 30-19 halftime lead. The 6-0 sophomore's 4th three of the game pushed the lead to 21-8, and then Hodges fed PF DeiLonzo Board for a slam on the break that made it 27-13 with just over 8 minutes left in the half.
Though Mt. SAC didn't score for the next 8 minutes, East LA could only cut that lead to 8 points at 27-19, mainly because the Huskies shot just 17% from the floor in the half. And when Hodges drained a three just before the buzzer, Mt. SAC's lead went back to double digits at 30-19 at the half.
East LA cut into the lead in the second half, getting within 6 points at 44-38 after a baseline drive by SF Justin Wallace with 8:08 left. The lead went between 8 and 10 points the next few minutes until Mt. SAC went on an 8-0 spurt to push the margin to 16 at 58-42 after a lay-up by Hodges with 3:53 left, seemingly putting the Mounties in control.
But East LA wasn't quite finished yet. A short jumper by PG Darren Lew and a steal moments later in the backcourt and a lay-up by SF Derrell Wallace made it 58-46. Then Justin Wallace drew a foul and made two free throws with 3:01 left to make it 58-48.
Mt. SAC got a driving lay-up by PG Herbert Rivers to make it 60-48, but East LA responded with a baseline drive by SG Hiroaki Masuda and a 3-pointer by Derrell Wallace that made it 60-53 with 1:20 remaining. And the Huskies got the ball back with just under a minute remaining.
But that's where the East LA rally ended. Lew drove the lane, but his shot was blocked by Ctr Keyshawn Ross and PG Isaiah Whitefield got the rebound. He was fouled and made two free throws with 47.1 seconds left to make it 62-53. Then Rivers stole the ball back at midcourt, which led to a slam by Ross that made it 64-53 with 42.1 seconds left. And then SF Rashad Bias poked the ball away from Masuda just across midcourt and got the ball back for another slam with 29.7 seconds left that made it 66-53 and clinched the win.
For Mt. SAC, Hodges led the way with his game-high 25 pts plus 3 asts. Board had a double-double with 11 pts and 11 rebs. Whitefield came off the bench and had a very solid game with 8 pts, 7 rebs and 6 asts. The Mounties were without starting Ctr A.J. Chamberlain, who is recovering from a sprained ankle.
For East LA, D. Wallace had 11 pts, Lew had 10 and Masuda had 9. The Huskies fall to 8-17 overall and 0-4 in the division.
box score
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - 7:30 pm
at Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut
South Coast Conference - North Division
East LA Huskies 55:
3-Derrell Wallace, SF - 5/8 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
10-Hiroaki Masuda, SG - 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
14-Darren Lew, PG - 3/13 fg, 4/6 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 10 pts
25-Damien Riley, PF - 0/3 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 3 pts
44-Eduardo Gonzalez, C - 3/7 fg, 5 reb, 3 pf, 6 pts
15-Chris Capinia, G - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
23-Justin Wallace, F - 2/4 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 6 pts
32-Ralph Nevarez, C - 1/3 fg, 4/9 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 6 pts
34-Ian Fennell, F - 1/4 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 4 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 17/47 fg (.362), 19/30 ft (.633), 41 reb, 9 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 18 pf, 55 pts
3-pt fg (2): D.Wallace, Masuda
Turnovers (22): Lew 6, Masuda 3, Riley 3, Gonzalez 3, D.Wallace 2, Capinia 2, J.Wallace 2, Nevarez
Mt. San Antonio Mounties 66:
4-Versia Hodges, SG - 10/18 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 25 pts
20-Rashad Bias, SF - 2/6 fg, 2/3 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
33-Herbert Rivers, PG - 1/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
34-DeiLonzo Board, PF - 4/8 fg, 2/3 ft, 11 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
44-Keyshawn Ross, C - 3/6 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
32-Melvin Ugwuala, F - 1/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 2 pts
22-Isaiah Whitefield, G - 3/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
42-Leif Williams, C - 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 6 pts
3-Julian McFadden, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
11-Marques Morten, F - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
21-Kenneth Scott, G - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 4 pf, 0 pts
00-Anthony Fuller, G - 0/1 fg, 1 blk, 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 26/63 fg (.413), 8/14 ft (.571), 37 reb, 18 ast, 6 blk, 13 stl, 24 pf, 66 pts
3-pt fg (6): Hodges 5, Board
Turnovers (16): Whitefield 4, Hodges 3, Bias 3, Board 2, Scott 2, Rivers, Williams
Halftime Score: Mt. SAC 30, East LA 19
Updated Records: Mt. SAC 10-14 overall, 1-2 in SCC-North; East LA 8-17 overall, 0-4 in SCC-North
note: A.J. Chamberlain (Mt. SAC) dnp - sprained ankle
