10th-seed ELAC basketball stuns 7th-seed

SAN JACINTO, CA — The 10th-seeded East Los Angeles College men’s basketball team won 79-77 at 7th-seeded Mt. San Jacinto College in Round 2 of the CCCAA Southern California Regional Bracket.

The Huskies held off a furious Mt. San Jacinto second-half rally to win. ELAC had a 15-point lead, 64-49, with 12:18 left in the game and with 17 seconds left, the Eagles tied the score at 77-all.

A missed jump shot from sophomore guard Sequan Walker (Long Beach Cabrillo High School) followed and sophomore guard Zeno Lake’s (Compton HS) quick put back with 2.5 seconds was the winning basket.

The Huskies (22-6) advance to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight year and play on Saturday, March 4, site and time to be determined. Mt. San Jacinto’s (22-11) season ended with a loss to ELAC in the CCCAA Regional Semifinals for the second-consecutive year.

After three lead changes and three ties, the latter 8-8 three minutes into the game, the Huskies went on a 15-0 run and led 23-8 off freshman guard Frank Bertz’s (Sultana HS) 3-point jump shot.

The Huskies built their largest lead of the game 45-27 with 3:29 remaining in the first half when Lake made a layup, assist from sophomore guard Jesus Zesati (St. John Bosco HS).  ELAC led 51-37 at the break.

Mt. San Jacinto chipped away at the Husky lead and tied the game at 74-all with 1:18 left in the contest. ELAC followed with three critical free throws, one from Lake and two from Zesati, which led to the dramatic finish.

Lake’s winning shot came off his only offensive rebound of the night, which was the most important of his ELAC career.

ELAC held Mt. San Jacinto sophomore Tre Nottingham to a season-low 11 points. The Texas State bound guard scored 685 points this season, the most in the state.

Walker scored a game-high 18 points and had a game-high four steals. Lake pumped in 15 points and had a team-high seven rebounds.

The University of Texas at El Paso bound freshman forward Roderick Williams (Price HS) scored 14 points for the Huskies. Williams scored 60 points in three games this season against Mt. San Jacinto of which ELAC won two.

Bertz scored 10 points. He had the Huskies’ only blocked shot. Sophomore forward Chima Wami (Corona Santiago HS) scored nine points for the Huskies and had five rebounds.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia