Men’s Basketball Routes Long Beach for Second-Straight Win

The Santiago Canyon College men's basketball team continued play at the Dana Pagett Tip Off this past weekend as they faced off against the Long Beach City College Vikings in non-conference action. The Hawks putt together two strong offensive halves after nearly touching the century mark in points leading to a 19-point victory.

The game began to shape into what looked to be a high flying, back-and-forth affair, but that quickly changed as the Hawks went on a powerful a 16-1 run to separate themselves from the Vikings.

Sophomore guard Kai Smith kicked off the run by draining a three ball, followed by a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Dane Kiefer and Smith. freshman guard Trevor Manning continued the streak by flushing a triple just outside the 10-minute mark which was assisted by sophomore guard Joey Longo, thus forcing a Vikings timeout.

The timeout stalled the Hawks scoring for a bit, but Longo struck again with a jumper to get them back on track. Freshman guard Marley Jaisel capped the run by flushing a triple to hand the Hawks a sizeable advantage just outside the seven-minute mark.

The Hawks maintained a comfortable 10-point distance throughout the first half and carried the same energy into the second half leading to a dominant 95-76 win.

Four players landed in double-digit scoring with Smith highlighting the bunch. He recorded his first double-double of the season featuring 21 points and 12 rebounds. He went 7-for-12 from the floor and dished out four assists in the process.

Manning, who played 21 minutes off the bench, was the next-best scorer leading to 15 points, while sophomore guard Damien Parker flirted with a double-double in a starting role. He drained 11 points and dished out seven assists.

Longo dropped 14 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists, while freshman guard Tony Colley had 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

 As a team, the Hawks shot over 50 percent from the floor for the second-consecutive game. They outrebounded the Vikings 37-29, while scoring 46 points in the paint.