Men’s Basketball Falls to Long Beach

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College suffered a 86-81 South Coast Conference loss to Long Beach on Friday night at the ECC Gym Complex.

The Warriors dropped their fourth straight game despite a furious comeback effort that fell short at the very end.

Shamar Carter had an outstanding night with 23 points, 13 rebounds and six assists while Jedaiah Mortimer added 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench with Billy Ray Barnes III chipping in with 12 points, seven assists and four blocks.

Franklyn Chambers scored 21 points to lead the Vikings with Andrew Argyros adding 15 points in 13 minutes off the bench.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 22 points in the game but mounted a furious rally in the second half. Trailing 71-60 with 6:18 left in the half, the Warriors ran off a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to just two points. The team hung around for the rest of the half and, down 84-81, the Warriors seemed to have a sure layup to cut the deficit to one.

But Vaitai Tuione's shot was still in his hands when the shot clock buzzer sounded, nullifying his basket and keeping ECC down 84-81 with six seconds left. The Vikings would make two free throws to ice the game.

The Warriors will wrap up their 2023-24 home schedule on Wednesday evening when they host Compton at 5 p.m.