Harbor Turns Out Lights on El Camino : Basketball: In a game stopped three times because of power failure, the Seahawks hold on for 78-75 victory.

El Camino Coach Paul Landreaux wasn’t sure what to expect from former assistant Carl Strong in the Warriors’ South Coast Conference game at Harbor Saturday night.

Neither Landreaux nor Strong, however, were able to anticipate another variable--power failures--in Harbor’s 78-75 victory.

The game was stopped three times because of power failure and the lights went out momentarily several other times.

“It was kind of distracting every time it happened,” Harbor forward Jerry Allen said. “It was a new experience.”

The interruptions, though, did not seem to affect Allen.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore finished with a game-high 33 points and 18 rebounds. He had 20 points in the second half to help Harbor improve to 13-13 and 2-3 in conference play.

With Harbor leading, 74-73, Allen made two free throws to give the Seahawks a three-point lead with one minute 19 seconds to play. Bassirou Niang increased the lead to 78-73 on a layup with 23 seconds to play.

Allen had 20 points in a 94-66 victory over El Camino in the final of the Corsair Tip-Off Classic at Santa Monica College in November. It was the Seahawks’ first victory over the Warriors in more than a decade.

Saturday’s game was the first conference game between the colleges since Harbor moved to the South Coast Conference from the Southern California Athletic Conference to start the season.

“We really blew them out the first time,” said Allen, who was selected the tournament’s most valuable player. “We kind of thought it would be a little harder the second time around.”

The lights went out completely for the first time with 34 seconds left in the first half. Four minutes into the second half, they went out again.

Several minutes later, the lights in the west end of the gym went out, but play continued for more than two minutes.

During that span, the Warriors went on an 8-2 run to open a 59-51 lead until the game was stopped when 45-second clock lost power.

“Every time, they got a run going, the power went out,” said Harbor guard Frank White, who had eight assists. “It seemed to happen at the right times.”

Mark Johnson had 25 points, including three three-point baskets, and Barnabas James added 17 for El Camino (10-16), which is winless in five conference games.

James scored 10 of the Warriors’ first 17 points to help El Camino build a 17-9 lead early in the first half.

But Allen, who had 13 first-half points, made a basket to spark an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 19-17.

Niang, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, made two free throws to tie the score and a field goal to put the Seahawks ahead midway through the first half.