PF Jaree Crawford poured in 32 pts and added 13 rebs to lead East Los Angeles to a 91-88 overtime win over Chaffey in the third-place game of the 2012 Neil Edwards Classic Sunday afternoon at Citrus College in Glendora.
Crawford, a 6-5 forward from Gary IN who played at Mt. San Jacinto College in 2010-11, scored his team's final four points, breaking an 87-all tie in the final 33.2 seconds to get his team the win.
East LA (5-2) had seen a 9-point lead disappear in the final 4:22 of regulation, and saw a 6-point lead with less than two minutes to go in overtime disappear as well, as Chaffey (4-2) tied the game at 87 on a driving lay-up by PG Sango Niang with 42.4 seconds left in extra time.
But Crawford made two free throws with 33.2 seconds left to put ELAC back in front. After Chaffey SG Kenny Morgan split two free throws with 24.2 seconds left, SF Justin Cole missed on a putback try and also a 3-pointer in the resulting scramble before Crawford corraled the rebound with 9.1 seconds left and was fouled. He made two more free throws to make it 91-88. Chaffey had one last chance to tie it but Niang's desperation 3-point try missed as the buzzer sounded.
After Chaffey held a narrow lead at 23-19 midway through the first half, East LA went on a 15-2 run to lead, 34-25, with 1:05 left in the first half. Chaffey scored the last four points of the half to trail by just five points at the break, and took a 37-36 lead on a basket by Cole early in the second half.
The lead changed hands several times until Chaffey took a 57-51 lead with just under 12 minutes left after a basket by SG Todd Lewis off apass from PF Ryan Nitz. That would turn out to be the Panthers' largest lesd of the game.
East LA tied the game at 59, and after Chaffey took a 63-61 lead the Huskies went on an 11-0 run to take a 72-63 advantage with 4:22 left, equalling the largest lead of the game for either team.
Chaffey rallied from that deficit, getting within 2 points at 76-74 on a Cole 3-pointer with 57 seconds left. Cole stole a pass moments later under the East LA basket, but fell to the floor and was called for travelling. Then Lewis stole the ball near midcourt, only for Morgan to throw the ball out of bounds with 33.9 seconds left. Then Crawford missed a jumper; Lewis grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made the two free throws with 30.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
East LA scored the first four points of overtime and built an 86-80 lead on a basket by Ctr Aaron Cheatum with just under two minutes left. But Chaffey rallied again, tying the score on Niang's lay-up, only to see Crawford come up big in the final 33.2 seconds for East LA.
Crawford finished with game-highs of 32 pts and 13 rebs, and added 2 blocks, 3 steals and an assist to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Cheatum also had a double-double with 23 pts, including 3 threes, and 10 rebs. PF Michael Foster came off the bench for 11 pts, including 3 threes, plus 4 rebs and 4 asts.
For Chaffey, Niang had team-highs of 21 pts and 8 asts. Morgan had 14 pts, including 3 threes, and Nitz had 10 pts, 4 rebs and 4 asts. Cole had 9 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts and 3 steals. PG Carl Robinson came off the bench for 8 pts, 7 asts and 3 steals.
box score
2012 Neil Edwards Classic
Sunday, November 25th @ Citrus College, Glendora
Third Place Game - 4 pm
Chaffey Panthers 88:
2-Sango Niang, PG - 9/16 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
4-Kenny Morgan, SG - 5/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
5-Justin Cole, SF - 4/13 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 9 pts
10-Ryan Nitz, PF - 4/12 fg, 1/1 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
33-Manuel Crawford, C - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
14-Adom Jacko, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
21-Todd Lewis, G - 2/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
24-Carl Robinson, G - 3/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 8 pts
32-D'on Hall, F - 3/6 fg, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
20-Roderick Evans-Taylor, G - 2/5 fg, 1 stl, 1 pf, 5 pts
44-Anthony Fitzpatrick, F - 1/3 fg, 4 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
25-Troyon Butler, C - 0 pts
54-Tyler Shea, C - 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 34/82 fg (.415), 11/14 ft (.786), 42 reb, 24 ast, 1 blk, 13 stl, 22 pf, 88 pts
3-pt fg (9): Morgan 3, hall 2, Niang, Cole, Nitz, Evans-Taylor
Ejected: Shea 38.2 secs left in regulation (leaving bench during dust-up)
Turnovers (15): Lewis 4, Niang 2, Morgan 2, Cole 2, Nitz 2, Hall 2, Crawford
East LA Huskies 91:
1-Elson Vessel, SF - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
3-Chris Brown, PG - 2/9 fg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
20-Aaron Cheatum, C - 9/12 fg, 2/4 ft, 10 reb, 3 pf, 23 pts
22-Jaree Crawford, PF - 10/19 fg, 10/11 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 1 pf, 32 pts
23-Dushon Carter, SG - 4/8 fg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
10-Mazen Harris Javier, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 1 pt
32-Michael Foster, F - 4/13 fg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 5 pf, 11 pts
35-Robert Ponce, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
42-Zach Hinton, C - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 4 pts
2-Frankie Aguilar, G - 1/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 32/72 fg (.444), 17/21 ft (.810), 49 reb, 22 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 15 pf, 91 pts
3-pt fg (10): Cheatum 3, Foster 3, Crawford 2, Brown, Carter
Fouled Out: Foster 24.2 secs left in OT
Turnovers (22): Carter 4, Brown 3, Cheatum 3, Foster 3, Crawford 2, Javier 2, Aguilar 2, Vessel, Hinton, team
Halftime Score: East LA 34, Chaffey 29
End of Regulation: Tied at 76
Updated Records: East LA 5-2, Chaffey 4-2
East LA led 34-25 after a 15-2 run. Chaffey took a 37-36 lead.
East LA led 72-63 with 4:22 left after an 11-0 run.
Lewis tied it at 76 for Chaffey with 2 FTs with 30.5 seconds left in regulation.
Crawford broke an 87-all tie with 2 FTs with 33.2 seconds left in OT, and added 2 FTs with 9.1 seconds left to make it 91-88.
