A tough month of January continued for Long Beach City College as the Vikings suffered their fourth loss in five games, this time a 75-65 South Coast Conference interdivision defeat at Mt. San Antonio College on Friday.
Since a November 24 win vs. Santa Ana, the Vikings have won just two of their last 10 games and are 8-10 after the Mt. SAC loss. But that slide will hopefully end thanks to the return of leading scorer and rebounder Chris Camper (Poly HS). Camper was back on the court for the Vikings for the first time since the Santa Ana victory. He came off the bench on Friday and chipped in with 13 points and five assists.
Prior to being sidelined, Camper ranked fifth in the state with 24.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
LBCC was down by just two points, 35-33, but couldn't pull out the win against the Mounties.
Freshman Ahmad Malone (Chicago, IL) led Long Beach with 16 points and added four assists. Sophomore Mena Saad (West Torrance HS) had 13 points and freshman Jeremiah Blandin (Poly HS) chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.
Lamarquis Thompson scored a game-high 26 points for Mt. SAC (8-9).
Long Beach will look to snap its three-game losing streak on Wednesday (Jan. 20) at 7 p.m. when the Vikings host LA Southwest College in their South Coast Conference South Division opener.
