State #13 Men's Basketball's 11-Game Win Streak Ends At Hands Of #8 ELAC

Rande Harper is defended well in the post by East LA as the Lancers 11-game win streak was stopped (photo Michael Watkins).
Rande Harper is defended well in the post by East LA as the Lancers 11-game win streak was stopped (photo Michael Watkins).

The Pasadena City College men's basketball team saw its 11-game win streak and its spot in first place in the South Coast Conference North Division both fall by the wayside in its clash at state #8 East Los Angeles College, losing 83-73 on Wednesday night.

The streak officially stands as the longest by a PCC men's team since the 1968-1969 season, the last year the Lancers program won the state championship. 

The #13-ranked Lancers (17-7, 3-1 in SCC play) never really threatened the Huskies, now 19-3 overall and a perfect 4-0 to break a tie with PCC for first at the conference's halfway mark.

Both athletic teams, ELAC jumped ahead 17-6, then built its commanding lead to 40-22 before settling for a 42-28 halftime advantage. In the second half, the Huskies led by as much as 22 points at 72-50 with seven minutes left. The Lancers finally rediscovered their game over the final minutes, cutting it to 10 at 76-66 on a 3-pointer by Jonathan Tchengang with just under two minutes left. Time ran out on the Lancers after trading baskets in the final moments. 

The East LA defense proved tough to penetrate and when the Lancers did it resulted in nine blocked shots and a bevy of missed layups. JT Langston gave the Lancers fits as he scored a game-high 20 points with 10 rebounds and stuffed six PCC shots. PCC also made just 5-for-28 from 3-point range and shot just 37.3 percent overall from the field.

Tchengang led Pasadena with 17 points and eight rebounds, followed by Myles Watkins with 14 points and seven boards, then Rande Harper 14 points off the PCC bench. Both Nigel Wilson and Nurridin Abdur-Rahmann had nine points and five rebounds. It was a counting triple for point guard Jayden Winfrey with seven points, eight rebounds and nine assists. 

Coach Ryan Frazer's Lancers will host LA Trade-Tech on Friday, Feb. 3 in a 7 p.m. conference contest.