ELAC Men Advance To State Game, 94-83 Over Merritt
NORWALK – East Los Angeles College, a No. 13 seed, defeated Merritt College, 94-83, at the California Community College men's basketball state championships, Friday at Cerritos College and will play for its first-ever title on Sunday.
The Huskies will face the winner between Saddleback College and Canada College, Sunday at 1 p.m.
Sophomore wing Primitivo Gomez (Arroyo High School, El Monte) recorded game highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way.
East Los Angeles, runners-up in the South Coast Conference North Division, entered the postseason as the South's No. 13 seed. The Huskies (22-10) needed a victory in the opening "play-in" round to reach the field of 16.
"We just persevere," said Huskies head coach John Mosley.
"It was important to us to win the 50-50 balls and we were able to force 19 turnovers. We are playing our best basketball at the right time. We've been moving the ball well on offense and that gets everyone involved."
Gomez received plenty of help, as the four other starters all scored in double figures, including sophomore guard Je'Ron Primus who added 17 points.
Gomez scored eight straight points for the Huskies during one stretch – and his jumper with 9:09 left gave ELAC a 68-64 lead.
"I'm not surprised by his play," Mosley said of Gomez.
"He's been a consistent player for us and he demonstrated that tonight."
Primus sank a pair of free throws to match ELAC's biggest lead (9 points) with 4:54 left in the game.
After being deadlocked in the first half, ELAC opened the second with back-to-back 3-pointers by Marcus Romain and Primus to take a 50-44 lead with 19:03 remaining.
The Huskies led, 56-49, as Marquis Salmon sank a jumper with 16:11 left.
Merritt (25-7) missed two fast-break dunks in the first six minutes of the second half, trailing 56-55 at the time. The Thunderbirds trailed 60-59 (DJ Kennedy layup) with 12:12 to go, and that was as close as they would get.
Merritt's leading scorer came off the bench. Freshman wing DJ Kennedy led his team with 20 points before fouling out with 2:06 remaining.
Thunderbirds guard Jovontae Carleton pulled his team closer, sinking two free throws to make it 83-81 with 1:58 left.
ELAC freshman center Richard Bivens' rebound and put-back gave the Huskies an 87-81 lead with 1:40 to go. After a Merritt turnover, he sank one of two free throws for an 88-81 cushion.
The Huskies made 33 of 39 free throws – with Gomez a perfect 9-for-9. The Thunderbirds were 20 of 31 from the stripe. Merritt outrebounded ELAC, 47-40.
Both teams battled in the first half – with equal numbers: a 44-44 tie and identical 41.9 percent shooting from the field. The first 20 minutes featured four ties and three lead changes.
Merritt's 6-6 sophomore forward Travon King paced his team with 12 points to lead all scorers, while teammate sophomore guard Denzel Bellot added 10.
ELAC was also led by a pair of sophomores early on, as forward Gomez and guard Michael Cardenas each scored 10 points.
The Huskies controlled most of the opening half and led 19-10 on a Michael Ford 3-pointer at the 14:06 mark. The Thunderbirds answered by scoring the next eight points, cutting it to 19-18.
Merritt soon grabbed its first lead of the game, 36-34, on a layup by Carleton with 3:29 left.
King finished with 19 points, while Carleton and Bellot added 14 apiece.
This was Merritt's fourth trip to the state tournament, placing second in 1958, sixth in 1961, and tied for third in 2013.
Merritt, finished in second place in the Bay Valley Conference, and earned the North's No. 5 seed for the playoffs.
East Los Angeles is making its first-ever trip to the CCCAA state championships.