El Camino College Rallies to Defeat Mt. San Antonio, 80-75

The El Camino College men’s basketball team opened South Coast Conference play with a convincing 80-75 victory over Mt. San Antonio College Saturday night at El Camino.

The Warriors improved to 17-7 overall and the Mounties fell to 12-11.

The game was played with only one official. The second official scheduled to work the game failed to show.

El Camino Coach Ron McClurkin, whose team was defeated by Mt. SAC three times last season, saw his team rally after trailing by 16 points in the first half.

“We got ahead then they showed a lot of character and bounced back,” Mt. SAC Coach Ralph Osterkamp said. “They are as good as anybody we’ve played.”

Center Mike Renolds and guard Keishaun Darthard led the Warriors with 17 points each and Major Whitlock had 14. Center Tony McGee led the Mounties with a game-high 19 points.

The Warriors appeared sluggish after a two-week layoff. El Camino dug itself into a hole midway through the first half. Twice the Warriors went scoreless for more than four minutes and with 4:42 left before halftime, they trailed by 16.

During that span El Camino committed a series of turnovers. The Warriors also missed all six of their free-throw attempts in the first half.

Their cold shooting warmed up a bit in the final 1:38 before the half. They went on a seven-point run that cut Mt. SAC’s lead to 40-34 at halftime.

“What happened is that we haven’t played in 15 days,” McClurkin said. “They forgot the game plan. That was it, the layoff.”

El Camino went on a 9-0 run that gave it a 52-45 lead with 13:36 left to play. The Warriors first took the lead on a layup by Anthony Kyle with 14:10 remaining.

Mt. SAC had a difficult time handling El Camino’s full-court press in the second half. With 7:37 left the Mounties trailed, 68-51, and appeared tired.

Mt. SAC came within eight after Scott St. Clair made two free throws with 2:07 left. A minute later center McGee made a 17-foot jump shot that cut El Camino’s lead to 72-66.

But a dunk by Darthard gave the Warriors a 10-point lead with 13 seconds left.

El Camino will play host to Long Beach City College on Wednesday.