ELAC ends Mt. SAC's conference streak
MONTEREY PARK, CA — The East Los Angeles College men’s basketball team defeated Mt. San Antonio College 82-62 and stopped the Mounties’ 9-game South Coast Conference North Division win streak.
ELAC had previously handed Mt. SAC its last conference loss, a historic 79-63 Husky win on Feb. 21, 2014. That win earned the Huskies their first-ever SCC title and first conference championship since 1971-72 when ELAC won the Southern California Conference.
The Huskies, 18-2 overall and 1-0 in the SCC North, are tied for the first place with Los Angeles Trade Tech College (2-15, 1-0).
Mt. SAC (9-10, 1-1) falls into a tie for third place with El Camino-Compton Center (11-9, 1-1).
Mt. SAC opened up with an 8-2 lead after the first 3 1/2 minutes of play. The first half ensued with four lead changes and three ties.
Down 36-30 at the half, Mt. SAC began the second half with a 12-7 run and pulled within one point, 43-42, with 14:24 left in the game.
ELAC answered with a 13-2 run and took a 56-43 lead with 10:03 left when freshman guard Jalen Gilmore (Washington Prep High School) swished a three-point shot. The ELAC bench scored 11 of those 13 points including six points from layups in the paint.
Mt. SAC put together another rally that ended with Mountie freshman guard Lamarquis Thompson’s layup to bring the Mounties within four points, down 60-56 with 5:27 left in the game.
ELAC finished the game by outscoring Mt. SAC 22-6 to finish with a rout, with the Husky bench scoring 16 of the points.
Husky sophomore forward Arinze Anakwenze (John Muir HS) slammed two dunks in the final couple of minutes, the first off an assist by freshman guard Chandler Redix (Cathedral HS) with 2:27 left.
Five Huskies scored in double figures including four from the bench. The bench scored 59 of ELAC’s points. Freshman guard Jarrell Tate (Birmingham, Alanama Wenonah HS) scored a season high 20 points for the second time in three games.
ELAC freshman guard Sequan Walker (Long Beach Cabrillo HS) scored 14 points and had a team-high six rebounds. The Huskies outrebounded Mt. SAC 36-24.
Anakwenze scored 12 points, Sweeny scored 11 and Gilmore added 10 points.
Thompson led the Mounties scoring attack with 18 points. Freshman guards Marquis Reed and Jamaal Logan each scored 11 points for Mt. SAC.
The Huskies had 12 blocked shots, five from Anakwenze and four from Sweeny. Mt. SAC had one blocked shot.
ELAC had 16 assists, led by Tate with five of them. The Huskies also 16 steals. Mt. SAC had five assists and five steals.
The Huskies connected on five shots from beyond the arc, three from Walker. Mt. SAC connected on 1-of-14 three-point shots.
ELAC, which has a 10-game win streak, plays at Pasadena City College (4-16, 0-2) on Wednesday Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. preceded by the women’s game at 5 p.m.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia