Men's Basketball: Vikings rally for 83-78 win over L.A. Southwest

Freshman forward Jared Garber scored 20 points and hauled 11 rebounds to help lead the Long Beach City College men's basketball team to an 83-78 South Coast Conference South Division win over visiting Los Angeles Southwest College on Friday night at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.

With the win, the Vikings remain undefeated in South Division play at 2-0 and evened their overall record to 7-7.

Southwest led 37-31 at halftime and held its advantage until late in the second. The Cougars were on top 65-59 with 7:35 to go before the Vikings put together an 11-1 scoring run to jump ahead 70-66 with 5:06 left in the contest. Freshman guard B.J. Tyler's three-pointer at the 5:47 mark gave the Vikings its first lead since midway through the first half.  

The teams combined for 52 fouls and went to the free throw line a total of 80 times. LBCC converted 34 of its 52 free throw attempts, while Southwest was 20 for 28 at the stripe.

Sophomore forward Stephan Heard also totaled a double-double for the Vikings with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Raynard Tyler added 13 points while freshman forward Robert Mandingo chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, and four steals off the bench.

Brandon Towns led Southwest (10-7, 0-2 SCC) with 23 points.

Long Beach returns to action on Wednesday (Jan. 12) when it hosts L.A. Trade Tech College in a 7 p.m. SCC South Division game.