Final Shots Fall Short as Warriors Edged by L.A. City

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College came up one basket short on Wednesday night in a 79-78 loss to Los Angeles City in a South Coast Conference non-divisional matchup at the ECC Gym Complex.

The Warriors had three looks at layups in the final seconds but came up short in a game that featured 13 lead changes including three in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

Four players scored in double figures for ECC led by Tavin Adamson and Jedaiah Mortimer with 16 points apiece. Ari Khazand dropped 11 including three 3-pointers while Kai Johnson scored 10 points in the loss.

Alan Duarte led all scorers with 28 points on 13-for-16 shooting for the Cubs to go along with 11 rebounds. A.J. Robinson scored 19 points and dished out 12 assists while Mark Smith scored 12 in the win.

The teams were tied at 32-32 going into halftime and it stayed close throughout the second half as neither team led by more than eight points the entire game. But the Cubs took an eight-point lead with three minutes left and seemed to be taking control of the game.

But the Warriors attacked the basket and made four straight free throws followed by a 3-pointer from Adamson with 1:45 left to cut the deficit to one.

After trading buckets to make it 76-75 in favor of LACC, Jackson Bell drew a foul with 57 seconds left and made one of his two free throws to tie things up at 76-76.

With 31 seconds left, Smith got to the charity stripe and hit one free throw to break the tie but Mortimer responded with a layup off the missed free throw to put the Warriors up 78-77 with 21 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Devean Mpoupe-Singui got the lead right back for the Cubs, making a layup to make it 79-78.

Out of a timeout, the Warriors got three great looks at the basket as Mortimer attempted a driving layup that rimmed out and then Daxen Walton missed to put-back attempts with the ball bouncing to the far corner after the second miss. Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound but had no time to attempt a shot as time expired.

The Warriors will wrap up the week on Friday night with a road game against Bakersfield. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.