Long Beach season ends with 45-39 playoff loss to Irvine Valley

by LBCC Sports Information

Long Beach City College's goal of reaching the State Championships Final Four for the first time since 1988 came up two games short as the fourth-seeded Vikings suffered a 45-39 loss to No. 5 Irvine Valley College on Wednesday night in a third-round Southern California Regional playoff game at the LBCC Hall of Champions Gym.

Long Beach scored a season-low 39 points, made just 14 of 54 shots from the field, and was outrebounded by a 40-32 margin --- all crucial elements in the Vikings taking the loss.

LBCC trailed Irvine Valley 11-10 after the first quarter before offense became scarce for both squads. Down 17-12 at the 7:18 mark in the second quarter, Long Beach scored the final seven points of the half to take a 19-12 advantage into the break.

 The Vikings and Lasers combined for 28 points over the second and third quarters as IVC held a narrow 26-23 advantage heading into the final period. In the fourth, freshman Sopavy Seng (Poly HS) made a pair of free throws to tie up the game at 29-29 with 7:38 to play. But the Vikings would get no closer. IVC went on a 9-2 run before sophomore Imani Johnson's (Carson HS) three-pointer with 2:18 to play got LBCC within three at 38-35.

Irvine Valley wouldn't give up the lead as the Lasers outscored Long Beach 7-4 the rest of the game to secure their trip to Saturday's regional final game at No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College.

Johnson and sophomore Taylor Smith (Redondo Union HS) both scored nine points to lead the Vikings. Sophomore Christiana Layne (Lynwood HS) had a good game underneath the basket with team-highs of eight rebounds and four blocks. Freshman Miranda Martinez (El Dorado HS) chipped in with four points and six rebounds.

Irvine Valley (23-7) got a game-high 13 points from Jordan Coleman. She was the lone player in the contest to score in double figures.

Long Beach closes out its season with a 24-6 overall record. The Vikings won a South Coast Conference South Division championship with a 7-1 mark and reached the postseason for the fifth straight season under sixth-year head coach Michael Anderson. LBCC will lose seven sophomores from this year's squad as the Vikings rebuild for the 2016-17 season.

http://lbcc.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/releases/201603033ns2zm