Long Beach guards Pearson Smith and Chris Hart had spectacular games, and SF Chris Fields added 18 points as the visiting Vikings (12-13, 2-0) topped El Camino (4-18, 0-3), 72-58, Friday night in a game much closer than that score makes it look.
Smith had 20 pts, 15 rebs and 5 asts while Hart made 7 of 8 shots from the field to finish with 16 pts. And Long Beach shot 53% from the floor in the second half after holding a 3-point lead at intermission. But the win still wasn't secure until some big plays by Smith and Hart in the final 5 minutes.
Long Beach led most of the first half, building a 27-19 at one point, but El Camino closed the gap to just 3 at halftime after a three by SG Kevin Wilson just before the buzzer. That made it 32-29 Vikings at intermission.
When the second half started, Long Beach extended its lead to 12 after a three by Smith made it 43-31. El Camino dug itself a hole by missing its first 9 shots of the second half, allowing Long Beach to take that 12-point lead. SF Kelly Hubbard finally ended the drought, scoring El Camino's first field goal of the half after a feed by Wilson with 13:37 left in the game.
But even after the terrible start to the second half, the Warriors fought back - several times. A three by Hubbard cut the Long Beach lead to 8 at 46-38, but the Vikings pushed the lead back to 12 after Smith fed Fields for a basket to make it 52-40.
A few minutes later El Camino's SG Nathaniel Dancy fed PF Angelo Hughes and Hubbard for baskets to cut the Viking lead to 3 at 54-51 with just under 6 minutes left, but Hart drained a three, scored a lay-up and grabbed a steal that set up a basket by PF Demetrius Hazel that extended the lead back to 10 at 61-51 with 4:40 left.
And El Camino fought back yet again, closing the gap to 5 at 63-58 after a three by Hubbard with just under 3 mintues to play. But then Smith came up with several big plays to put the win away for Long Beach. First, a free throw made it 64-58. Then he grabbed a steal that ended with a jam by Ctr Stephon Williams that made it 66-58. Then he grabbed a rebound and threw a long outlet pass to Hart, who scored to put the lead back to 10 at 68-58. Finally, Smith got a rebound of an El Camino miss, was fouled, and made a pair of free throws to make it 70-58 with 35 seconds left.
In addition to Smith, Hart and Fields, Long Beach standouts included Williams, who grabbed 9 rebs, and SG Alex Hunter, who dished out a game-high 6 asts.
El Camino's Hubbard had a strong game, posting a game-high 22 points and a team-high 9 rebs. Wilson was the only other Warrior in double figures; he finished with 13 pts, 6 rebs and 5 asts. But he shot just 4-for-18, which was symptomatic of El Camino's overall shooting woes (they finished 20-of-61 for 32.8%).
box score
Friday, January 20, 2006 - 7:30 pm
at El Camino College - Torrance
South Coast Conference - Southern Division
Long Beach Vikings 72:
2-Pearson Smith, PG - 7/10 fg, 4/7 ft, 15 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 20 pts
3-Alex Hunter, SG - 2/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
15-Stephon Williams, C - 3/6 fg, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 6 pts
21-Chris Fields, SF - 6/17 fg, 6/8 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 18 pts
31-Demetrius Hazel, PF - 2/10 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 5 pf, 4 pts
4-Chris Hart, G - 7/8 fg, 1/1 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 16 pts
1-Vance Lawrence, G - 1/2 fg, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
52-Allen Hayward, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
42-Cameron Herbert, C - 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
33-Michael Pope, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 28/60 fg (.467), 13/18 ft (.722), 42 reb, 17 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 19 pf, 72 pts
3-pt fg (3): Smith 2, Hart
Fouled Out: Hazel 3:58 left
Turnovers (18): Hunter 4, Williams 4, Smith 3, Fields 2, Hazel 2, Hart 2, Pope
El Camino Warriors 58:
4-Kristopher Griffis, PG - 2/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
11-Kevin Wilson, SG - 4/18 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
30-Cary Harville, C - 1/3 fg, 3/6 ft, 5 reb, 4 pf, 5 pts
32-Kelly Hubbard, SF - 9/16 fg, 2/6 ft, 9 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 22 pts
34-Angelo Hughes, PF - 2/9 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 4 pts
13-Nathaniel Dancy, G - 2/5 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
3-Ronnie Green, G - 2/2 ft, 2 pts
42-Raymond Lester, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 20/61 fg (.328), 14/21 ft (.667), 37 reb, 12 ast, 2 blk, 8 stl, 15 pf, 58 pts
3-pt fg (4): Hubbard 2, Wilson, Dancy
Fouled Out: Hughes 24 secs left
Turnovers (19): Wilson 6, Griffis 4, Hubbard 3, Harville 2, Dancy 2, Hughes, team
Halftime Score: Long Beach 30, El Camino 23
Updated Records: Long Beach 12-13, 2-0 in conf; El Camino 4-18, 0-3 in conf (9th str loss)
