Report by LBCC’s Chris Ruiz

The Long Beach City College men’s basketball team snapped a four-game streak thanks to a 64-61 non-conference win over visiting Ventura College on Tuesday night at the Hall of Champions Gym.

The win improved the Vikings to 4-6 overall while Ventura dropped to 2-8.

Long Beach led from the opening tip and held a slim 38-33 advantage at halftime. LBCC was up by as many as 12 points (50-38) with 11:30 to go but had to withstand a late Ventura rally that saw the Pirates get within one point (60-59) with under a minute left in the contest.

But with 31 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Darrin Kirk drew an offensive charging foul from Ventura’s Jeremiah Slowik to give the ball back to LBCC. Sophomore guard Leo Arnold sank four free throws down the stretch to secure the win for the Vikings.

Sophomore guard Stephan Gwin led all with 20 points and eight rebounds. Freshman forward Stephen Armstrong posted 10 points and Kirk chipped in with nine points and four assists.

Mike Melonas led Ventura with 15 points to go with seven rebounds. Jordan Harris added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Long Beach returns to action this weekend (Dec. 17-19) when it will compete at the Saddleback College tournament. The Vikings face host Saddleback at 7 p.m. on Thursday.