After a 10-0 run led by freshman guard Jacob Topete in the final minutes of the game to tie up the score, the LBCC men’s basketball team’s late comeback in the second half was cut short, losing to Mt. San Antonio College 94-90 in a regular season game Wednesday.
Following a record-breaking game on Friday with a career high 42-point game, sophomore guard Brandon Cerda led the team with 30 points and four steals against the Mounties.
“Having confidence and playing together, we know we have the talent to beat any team,” Cerda said.
The Vikings started off a little slow, giving up offensive rebounds and second-chance points, but showed defensive aggression pulling for multiple steals and points off turnovers.
Along with Cerda, other guard Franklyn Chambers played the entire length of the game, scoring 26 points and three assists.
Chambers was largely in the paint, going 10-18 in field goals made in the game, while sharing the ball with his teammates as well.
Despite the effort, the Vikings gave up many fouls very early in each half, forcing the Mounties to the free throw line and forfeiting easy points.
Down only two points, the Vikings went into the second half with all five starters scoring, looking to bounce back.
The Vikings were outrebounded 42-26 total in the game and had a massive deficit of offensive rebounds only obtaining three to the 18 of Mt. SAC.
“Everything is defense, needing to keep up the intensity,” Chambers said, on any lessons from the match that the team can take away and learn from.
The Vikings were down as much as 12 heading into the final ten minutes of the game, but forced turnovers and points to tie the game 82 with less than five minutes to go.
Cerda with a few seconds left, went up for the potential game-tying three-point shot, but missed, forcing the Vikings to foul with another six seconds left to go.
Head coach Barry Barnes knew that the game was still winnable taking their last timeout as long as they executed the right play.
Coach Barnes wanted more teamwork heading into the next games, not just relying on his star guards to make the plays, but for everyone to contribute.
“Building confidence, we know we can learn and be better. They’ve been doing the job for us (Cerda and Chambers), but we need a third man to help us out,” Barnes said.
Vikings men’s basketball has three more games left before starting conference play on Jan. 24 in a home game against Compton.
The Vikings play their next game on the road against Los Angeles City College this Friday.