Men's Basketball: Upset bid falls short, Long Beach falls to No. 2 Mt. SAC 81-71

Sophomore center Kyle Clark (Lakewood HS) scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds but it wasn't enough for the Long Beach City College men's basketball team as the Vikings lost a showdown between South Coast Conference division leaders on Wednesday. No. 2 state-ranked Mt. San Antonio College escaped the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym with an 81-71 win to remain undefeated in conference play.

The loss dropped Long Beach to 11-10 overall and 6-3 in the South Coast Conference South Division while Mt. SAC ran its winning streak to 10 games to move to 20-3 overall and 9-0 in the SCC North Division.

The Mounties held a 46-38 lead at the break to set up a thrilling second half. Mt. SAC was up 67-57 at the 8:04 mark in the second before the Vikings put together an 11-2 run to get back in the contest. Clark, freshman Raynard Tyler (Jordan HS), sophomore Stephen Armstrong (Lakewood HS), and freshman Robert Mandingo (Dominguez HS) all had layups before freshman Ronald Nezey (Poly HS) sank a big three-pointer and added a fastbreak bucket to get LBCC within one point at 69-68 with 5:06 to go.

A Mt. SAC layup by Ervin Ware was answered by another big put-back basket underneath by Clark to keep the margin at one with the score 71-70 with 3:33 left in the game.

But LBCC would get no closer. The Mounties reeled off nine straight points, including five free throws, to put the game out of reach and secure the victory.

Clark added two steals and a block to go with his 20 points and 13 rebounds. Tyler also had a big game for LBCC, totaling 19 points and five assists.

Antonio Biglow led the Mounties with a game-high 28 points while Elijah York added 13 points.

The Long Beach men return to action on Friday (Feb 4) when they host crosstown rival Cerritos College in a SCC game at 7 p.m.