El Camino Holds Off Pesky Pasadena, 74-71

The last time El Camino played Pasadena, Warrior forward Zlatco Josic had a bad foot. Coach Ron McClurkin said shortly before that game that his team wouldn’t have bothered making the trip for the South Coast Conference opener if Josic couldn’t play.

On Saturday, Josic, the Warriors’ second-leading scorer, missed the first half because he had the flu, but the 6-foot-5 sophomore sealed the Warriors’ 74-71 victory over Pasadena with a pair of free throws and ended the night with eight points.

The victory secured first place for El Camino (19-6, 4-1) in the SCC and kept Pasadena (15-5, 3-2) in second.

“It was the most important win ever,” said an emotional Josic after the game. “God, we knew we had to win this one.”

With 37 seconds left in the game, El Camino trailed 70-71. Then Van Myers stole the ball and passed it to Kevin Mixon, who drove the lane for a layup. That made the score 72-71 in favor of El Camino.

Then, with eight seconds left, Josic went to the line and sank both free throws.

“We’re back in first place now,” McClurkin said, “and fortunately we don’t have to see those guys again.”

The first time the two clubs met this season, El Camino walked away with a 12-point vicotry. But this time an eager and determined Pasadena team was not about to let that happen.

Neither team dominated the first half. The Warriors scored seven unanswered points in less than a minute but couldn’t hold on to the lead.

Pasadena tied the game with 3:44 left in the half when Jeff Samuel grabbed his own rebound and converted it into two points. The Lancers trailed by only one at the break, 39-38.

So the Warriors’ earlier run, which put them up, 22-16, with 9:26 remaining in the half, didn’t do much lasting good. The streak started with David Keeter’s jump shot, followed by Kelvin Harris’ breakaway dunk and Keeter’s 3-point shot.

Keeter, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward, led the Warriors with 21 points and Myers added 13. Mixon, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to eight points.

The No. 9 Warriors, who have lost their only SCC game to Long Beach, will travel to Mt.San Antonio College on Wednesday.