Nguyen’s Effort Not Enough as Warriors Fall to Pasadena

TORRANCE, Calif. – Sophomore Ashley Nguyen set a new career high on Friday night but it was not enough as El Camino College dropped a 64-53 decision to Pasadena at the ECC Gym Complex.

Nguyen dropped 31 points to lead all scorers on the night, going 13-for-20 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range for the Warriors (5-12). But Nguyen was the only player to reach double figures for ECC and the rest of the team struggled mightily from distance, going 1-for-10 from distance.

For the Lancers, Merina Latu led the way with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting while Dariel Johnson scored 20 and grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Warriors grabbed 30 rebounds as a team as they were beaten on the glass, 41-30. The Lancers grabbed 14 offensive boards and turned those into 11 second-chance points while the Warriors grabbed 11 offensive rebounds but got just four points on their second chances.

The Lancers led wire-to-wire and the Warriors put themselves in a 20-point hole at one point during the game. Latu hit a jumper off an assist from Lizette Espinoza with 4:16 left in the second quarter to put the Warriors behind 36-16.

The Warriors would claw back, however, outscoring Pasadena 32-14 over the next 20:23 of game time to cut the Lancers lead to 50-48 with 6:07 left in the fourth quarter.

But they would get no closer as the Lancers went on an 11-2 scoring run to pull away and secure the victory.

The Warriors will return to action on Wednesday night as they host Compton to open South Coast Conference, South Division action at the ECC Gym Complex. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.