Men's Basketball: Long Beach knocks off LA Harbor 59-55 in regular-season finale

Freshman guard Raynard Tyler (Jordan HS) scored 15 points including a pair of crucial free throws with 1.2 seconds left to lead the Long Beach City College men's basketball team to a 59-55 South Coast Conference South Division win over visiting Los Angeles Harbor College on Friday night at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.

Long Beach closed the regular season with a 14-11 overall record and finished second in the SCC South behind the Seahwaks at 9-4. Harbor (15-12, 10-3 SCC South) had already clinched the division championship and automatic Southern California playoff berth, but the Vikings needed a win to improve their chances at an at-large spot in the postseason.

Playoff pairings will be announced on Monday following the Southern California postseason coaches meeting. LBCC head coach Barry Barnes feels the Vikings will likely earn a place in the playoffs.

Friday night's contest came down to the wire. Long Beach appeared to be pulling away for the win with five minutes to go after a pair of free throws by freshman forward Jared Garber (Lakewood HS) gave LBCC an eight point lead (52-44).

But Harbor answered with a 9-1 run to get back into the contest. Jason Dailey's three-pointer at 3:38 got the Seahawks within one and a free throw by Dennis Hardwell with 3:17 left tied the game at 53.

 Tyler's jumper with 1:23 to go put LBCC up by two again at 57-55. Harbor came down the court and missed a pair of three pointers but got the ball back for one last chance with 17 seconds after freshman forward Robert Mandingo's (Dominguez HS) missed jumper.

Marquel Jones brought the ball down and had it knocked out of bounds with two seconds left on the clock by LBCC freshman guard Bernard Tyler (Jordan HS).

Dailey's inbound pass was knocked back into his hands by Bernard Tyler as he was out of bounds to give the Vikings back possession of the ball. Raynard Tyler was fouled and nailed both his free throws to secure the win.

Sophomore forward Stephan Heard (Jordan HS) had a big game with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore center Kyle Clark (Lakewood HS) chipped in with nine points, six rebounds, two blocks, and two steals while Mandingo and Garber both posted nine points and seven rebounds.

Dailey led Harbor with 14 points and Hardwell grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.