Warriors Overcome Early Hole to Defeat L.A. Trade Tech

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College scored a 71-68 victory over visiting L.A. Trade Tech on Friday evening at the ECC Gym Complex.

The Warriors overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half to record the win, holding the visiting Beavers to just 4-for-27 shooting from 3-point range. Rocco Gaffoglio led ECC with 21 points with Linken Tate adding 12 points and five assists and Justin Cricri chipping in with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds and a new career-high seven blocked shots in the victory.

Franklyn Chambers led the Beavers with 16 points while Kemaree Germany added 15 and Will Smith III scored 14 in the loss.

The Warriors got off to a rough start, falling behind 17-2 in the first eight minutes of action. They trailed by 17 with 11:29 left in the first half but outscored the Beavers 32-18 to close out the period and cut the deficit to just three points at halftime.

In the second half, the Warriors would finally pull even at 45-45 with 13:23 left in regulation and they took their first lead at 55-53 with 8:57 left.

After a Beavers bucket tied it back up at 55, Landon Starnes nailed a 3-pointer to put the Warriors up by three and they never looked back as they stayed in front the rest of the way.

The Beavers did pull it within one point in the final minute on two occasions but the Warriors hit their free throws when it mattered and got one last stop as Johnathan Gomez's 3-point attempt to tie the game for LATT clanked off the iron for their 23rd missed 3-pointer and time ran out as the Beavers secured the rebound without an opportunity to take another shot.

The Warriors will now head to East Los Angeles on Wednesday to face the Huskies with tipoff set for 5 p.m.