Report by LBCC’s Chris Ruiz

The Long Beach City College men’s basketball team suffered a 97-87 South Coast Conference interdivision loss in overtime to visiting Pasadena City College on Wednesday night at the Hall of Champions Gym.

The loss dropped Long Beach to 4-9 overall while Pasadena won its second straight to move to 3-9 on the season.

Long Beach held a 75-66 lead with 7:43 to go in the second half before a 15-3 Pasadena run, capped by Shawn Hampton’s three pointer, put the Lancers ahead 81-78 with 2:05 left in regulation.

A pair of free throws by LBCC freshman forward Holsey Johnson with 46 seconds left cut PCC’s lead to just one point (81-80).

After Dannin Harris’ missed jumper, Long Beach sophomore guard Leo Arnold was fouled and sent to the line for two shots with seven seconds to go. Arnold missed the first, but nailed the second to tie the game and force the overtime period.

In the OT period, it was all Pasadena. The Lancers shot 5 for 8 from the field, and got eight points from Harris to wrap up the win. The Vikings shot just 2 for 6 in the overtime period.

Arnold nearly had a triple-double for LBCC in the loss. He totaled 17 points, a season-best 15 assists, and seven rebounds. Johnson poured in 17 points to go with seven rebounds, while freshman center Kyle Clark posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Jordan Block led Pasadena with a game-high 29 points to go with 11 rebounds. Hampton scored 26 points and had six assists, while Marcus Harvey totaled 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Long Beach returns to action next week (Dec. 28-30) when it will compete at the Imperial Valley College tournament. The Vikings face Cuyamaca College on Wednesday at 1 p.m.