Brandon Staton scored 29 pts including a 3-point play with 1.5 seconds left that broke a 71-all tie and lifted #6 Long Beach to its 13th win in its last 14 games, a 74-71 victory over a tough East Los Angeles squad Friday night in an SCC crossover game.
With the score tied at 71 and the clock winding down, Staton drove through the lane and scored the winning basket with 1.5 seconds left as he slammed into an ELAC defender under the basket. The nearby official emphatically signalled that the basket was good and awarded Staton the free throw following the blocking foul on Michael Cardenas, which he made to give Long Beach (16-4) the hard-fought win.
The game was played at the deliberate pace of East LA (11-9) rather than the run-and-shoot style of the host Vikings. Long Beach made just 5 three-pointers all game and shot just 36.5% from the floor. It was definitely a playoff type of game. And thanks to Staton, Long Beach came away with the win.
Early on, it looked like Long Beach might have an easy time of it, jumping out to a 25-14 lead with 10:39 left in the first half. That 100-point pace suits the Vikings, and East LA didn't seem to have the firepower to stay with Long Beach in an end-to-end shootout.
But then East LA clamped down and went on a 15-5 run, cutting the margin to a single point at 30-29 when Cardenas converted a 3-point play with 4:43 left in the first half. Cardenas scored on a lay-up a bit later following a steal by Osnar Garcia to tie the score at 33 with 3:25 left in the half.
Chris Spencer made three free throws from four attempts to keep Long Beach in the lead, and the Vikings led, 40-38, at the half. And Spencer scored on an emphatic putback slam to start the second half to make it 42-38.
Then East LA went on a startling 11-0 run, taking a 45-42 lead on a 3-pointer by Primitivo Gomez with 16:40 remaining. Then Marcus Romain made two free throws 23 seconds later and then scored off a pass from Je'ron Primus to make it 49-42. The East LA lead reached eight points when Gomez made another three with just over 13 minutes left to make it 54-46.
Long Beach quickly erased that deficit, however, getting within three when Michael Shivers drained a three to make it 59-56. Staton made a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, and Spencer banked in a jumper with 7:36 left to put Long Beach in front, 62-61.
The lead went back and forth the rest of the way, with Long Beach taking a 69-68 lead when Spencer scored after fielding an errant Staton air-ball right below the basket. Romain scored on a lay-up for East LA with just over two minutes left to put the Huskies back in front, but Shivers was fouled by Primus - his 5th foul of the game - and made two free throws for Long Beach with 1:16 left that gave the Vikings a 71-70 advantage.
East LA's Romain was fouled with 57.1 seconds left and awarded two free throws. Shockingly, he missed both shots. But he redeemed himself moments later by stealing the ball back and midcourt and drawing another foul. This time he made the first free throw to tie the game. But he missed the second, which Spencer grabbed for his 10th rebound of the night with 30.2 seconds left.
After a Long Beach timeout with 12.6 seconds left, Staton got the ball and drove into the lane for his game-winning shot. Trailing by three, East LA called back-to-back timeouts and got the ball to Romain, whose half-court shot at the buzzer hit the backboard and rim before bouncing harmless to the floor.
For Long Beach, Staton led all scorers with his 29 points, which included 3 three-pointers, and he also had 3 asts and 2 steals. Spencer had a double-double with 19 pts and 10 rebs. Shivers came off the bench for 10 pts inlcluding a pair of threes. The other key contributor for LBCC was backup Center Jovan Pearson, who scored just 2 pts but had 6 blocked shots filling in for a foul-plagued Davarrus Bryant.
For East LA, Romain scored a team-high 21 pts and added 4 rebs and 2 steals. Primus had 18 pts and a game-high 6 asts, and Cardenas had 10 pts. Richard Bivens came off the bench for 8 pts and a team-high 10 rebs.
box score
Friday, January 23, 2015 - 7 pm
at the LBCC Hall of Champions, Long Beach
South Coast Conference
East LA Huskies 71:
1-Michael Cardenas, SG - 3/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 10 pts
2-Je'ron Primus, SF - 4/9 fg, 9/12 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 18 pts
3-Marcus Romain, PG - 7/15 fg, 6/10 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 21 pts
33-Primitivo Gomez, PF - 2/8 fg, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
35-Marquis Salmon, C - 0/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 1 pt
10-Miles Ford, G - 0/3 fg, 4 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
25-Richard Bivens, F - 3/7 fg, 2/4 ft, 10 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 8 pts
11-Ante Joyner, F - 0/1 fg, 0/1 ft, 0 pts
23-Dashawn Hill, C - 2/7 fg, 1/6 ft, 3 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 5 pts
22-Osnar Garcia, G - 1/1 fg, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 pts
team rebounds: 12
Totals: 22/58 fg (.379), 22/39 ft (.564), 51 reb, 13 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 24 pf, 71 pts
3-pt fg (5): Gomez 2, Cardenas, Primus, Romain
Technical Foul: team (delay of game)
Fouled Out: Primus 1:16 left
Turnovers (24): Romain 6, Bivens 6, Gomez 4, Cardenas 2, Primus 2, Salmon 2, Garcia, team
Long Beach Vikings 74:
3-Elijah Gaines, SF - 2/13 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
11-Chris Spencer, PF - 7/14 fg, 5/8 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
15-Mena Saad, SG - 0/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 pts
21-Brandon Staton, PG - 8/23 fg, 10/14 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 29 pts
33-Devarrus Bryant, C - 1 reb, 1 stl, 5 pf, 0 pts
42-Ryan Stewart, F - 3/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
50-Jovan Pearson, C - 1/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 6 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
1-Andre Springer, G - 0/1 fg, 2/3 ft, 2 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
5-Jammaal Roebuck, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
31-Michael Shivers, F - 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
4-Isaac Stell, G - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
32-Simmie Shelton, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 23/63 fg (.365), 23/33 ft (.697), 35 reb, 8 ast, 9 blk, 8 stl, 26 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (5): Staton 3, Shivers 2
Technical Foul: Spencer
Fouled Out: Bryant 7:27 left
Turnovers (18): Shivers 6, Staton 5, Gaines 4, Saad, Stewart, Pearson
Halftime Score: Long Beach 40, East LA 38
Updated Records: Long Beach (#6-South, #11-Calif) 16-4, East LA 11-9
Long Beach led by 11 at 25-14 but East LA tied it at 33 late in the 1st half.
East LA led by 8 at 54-46 with about 13 mins left but Long Beach took a 62-61 lead with 7:36 left.
The lead went back and forth the rest of the way until Staton won it with a 3-pt play with 1.5 seconds left.
Long Beach has won 8 straight games and 13 out of its last 14.
