Mortimer’s Career High, Williams’ Heroics Lift Warriors Past L.A. Trade Tech

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Chase Williams converted a three-point play with seven seconds remaining and Jedaiah Mortimer set a new career high in scoring as El Camino College edged L.A. Trade Tech, 79-78, on Friday night at the ECC Gym Complex.

Williams drove through the heart of the Beavers' defense and hit a layup with seven seconds left to tie the game at 78-78 and drew a foul. He would hit the free throw to put the Warriors ahead and the Beavers missed a game-winning 3-point attempt as time expired to secure the win for ECC.

Williams would finish with eight points on a night where Mortimer dropped a career-best 25 points on a blistering 9-for-12 shooting night from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 night at the charity stripe. It was just Mortimer's third double-digit scoring outing of the season and first 20-point performance.

Billy Ray Barnes III added 15 points with Shamar Carter adding 14 with six rebounds and one steal. Vaitai Tuione led the team with 11 rebounds and three assists.

The teams were evenly matched for the majority of the game. The Beavers led by as much as 10 points early in the first quarter but the Warriors answered with a 7-0 scoring run to trim that back to three and no team ever led by 10 points the rest of the way.

It was an uphill battle as the Beavers led for 27:57 of game time but the Warriors used an outstanding second half to take the victory. The Warriors shot 60 percent (15-for-25) in the second half while also holding the Beavers to just 3-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. In contrast, the Beavers shot 38.9 percent in the first half which helped them hold the halftime lead.

Despite the great offense, the Warriors still trailed 77-71 with 1:04 left in regulation and without the ball. But Williams secured a steal with 38 seconds left and then Mortimer got to the line after an ECC timeout to cut the deficit to 77-73 after the two free throws.

The Warriors then fouled Jerome Smith to send him to the line. Smith would miss the front end of the one-and-one attempt at the line and then Carter drained a 3-pointer from the top to cut the deficit to one point with 20 seconds left.

Once again, the Warriors fouled and sent Omari Fegruson to the line for two shots. He would hit one of the two to give the Beavers a 78-76 lead.

Out of the timeout, Zachary Bates hit Williams at the top, who then immediately turned and drove down the middle of the lane with Jessiah Pierre-Johnson strafing him over his left shoulder. Williams went up, absorbed the contact, and laid it up of glass to tie things up while drawing the foul on his defender. He'd make the free throw to put ECC up 79-78 and Pierre-Johnson's 3-pointer clanged off the front iron as time expired.

The Warriors will return to action on Wednesday with a home game against Pasadena set for 5 p.m.