Warriors Fall Short in OT vs Compton

TORRANCE, Calif. - El Camino College dropped a close 93-90 game in overtime on Wednesday night against the visiting Compton College Tartars in the South Coast Conference South Division opener.  

The Warriors (5-14, 0-1) came into this game as winners in their last three games.  The game was a back-and-forth affair with the Warriors and the Tartars (9-10, 1-0) exchanging the lead 15 times and tying the game at 12 different times.  

The Warriors had six different players reach double-figures in scoring.  Jamal Howard led the Warriors with 20 points on 7-10 shooting. Howard also led the team with 11 rebounds and picked up a double-double.  Darrian Williams-Youngblood had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Rashon Crutcher had 16 points and 6 assists. Chase Pitts had 11 points and 9 rebounds.  Jason Vasquez had 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Dominique Alexander led the Tartars and all scorers with 29 points and 12 rebounds.  

The Warriors shot a decent 49.2% from the field compared to Compton's 38.5%. The Warriors also outrebounded the Tartars 50-to-33.  But the Warriors had a costly 29 turnovers compared to Compton's 15 turnovers. The Tartars were able to convert those turnovers into 33 points. 

There were 61 fouls called in the game with 35 going against the Warriors and 26 going against the Tartars.  The Tartars picked up 33 points from the charity stripe on 33-for-53 shooting. The Warriors were 20-for-32 from the line.  

The first half was a very even game with the Warriors leading by two points with a 40-38 lead.

It remained a close game in the second half with neither side able to pull away from each other.  The Warriors had a 67-62 lead with 6:13 left in the second half. Compton led 75-74 with 1:16 left in the game.  The Tartars proceeded to miss four consecutive free throws after picking up an offensive board with 43 seconds left in the second half.  The Warriors had a chance to pull ahead after Darrian Williams-Youngblood was fouled with 28 seconds left in the game. 

Williams-Youngblood sank both free throws to pull the Warriors ahead 76-75 momentarily before the second free throw was called off for a lane violation by the shooter.  Compton couldn't get a clear look off and the game went to overtime at 75-75. 

Compton scored on their first two possessions in OT while the Warriors turned the ball over four times and missed two free throws.  The Warriors weren't able to come back in overtime and Compton was able to hang on to a 93-90 win in overtime.