ELAC men’s basketball stops SBVC 81-72 behind second half surge

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — East Los Angeles College won 81-72 against San Bernardino Valley College in the round-robin 2018 Alvin Hunter Classic at Snyder Gym at the Athletic Complex.

No. 2-state ranked ELAC improved to 4-2 overall while handing No. 17 San Bernardino (5-1) its first loss. ELAC was solid in the second half, got hot and shot 43 points on 14-of-25 shooting while holding San Bernardino to 25 on 9-of-29 shooting.

The Huskies second half aggressive approach included a perfect 100% at the line down the stretch, 4-of-4, while holding San Bernardino to just one of three shot attempts.

Down 47-38 at the half, the Huskies opened play with an 7-0 run. ELAC pulled within two, down 47-45, on a dunk sophomore forward Rodney Agee, a transfer from Cal State Dominguez Hills, at the 18:27 mark of the second half. ELAC had its first lead with 9:12 left in the game, 61-60, from sophomore guard Abdul Bah (Narbonne High School) who scored from a jump shot in transition.

ELAC increased its lead to 72-62 on two free throws by sophomore guard Deshaun Highler, a transfer from the University of Texas of El Paso, with 5:44 left. The Huskies never looked back and flirted with double digit leads to the final buzzer.

San Bernardino opened the game with an 11-2 lead after the first four minutes of play. The Wolverines led by 16 points 39-23 with 3:17 left in the first half. ELAC closed out the first 20 minutes on a 15-8 run.

DAWG TRACKS

Three Huskies scored in double digits, two with 13 each, Bah, who had three steals and sophomore guard Darius Henderson (Taft HS) who added two three-pointers. Highler amassed 11 points and a game-high three assists.

ELAC did not disappoint with acrobatics as the Huskies amassed six blocked shots. Sophomore forward ward Solomon Hunt (Upland HS) blocked a game-high three blocked shots. Malik Muhammad (Narbonne HS) had two blocked shots, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high four steals.

UP NEXT

The Huskies will face three ranked teams in the Riverside Classic at Wheelock Gymnasium, which is a round-robin tournament this year. ELAC meets No. 7 Saddleback College (4-2), Wednesday Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.; No. 13 Riverside City College (Massey Ratings), who is 4-1 overall, Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. and No. 17 (Massey) Copper Mountain College (5-1), Dec. 8, Saturday at noon.

Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index and ELAC Huskies Athletics on Facebook.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia