El Camino Upsets Santa Monica, 81-79

El Camino College could have stayed home and cruised through its first-round playoff game against a 16-15 Riverside team.

Instead, a last-minute change in the seedings made 23rd-seeded El Camino (21-10) have to play its game of the season to post an 81-79 upset of 10th-seeded Santa Monica (26-9) in front of a small but rowdy Westside crowd.

“We finally beat another quality team,” said El Camino Coach Ron McClurkin, whose team finished in a three-way tie for third in the South Coast Conference.

Santa Monica Coach John McMullen would not comment except to say he was happy to play a tougher team in the first round. Originally Santa Monica was to play Long Beach (15-15).

McMullen’s team played well, but the Warriors were clearly hungry for a win. Five El Camino players scored in double figures, and the team played fierce defense.

Sophomore guard Larry Lockley led the Warriors with 21 points, and forward David Keeter had 13 before fouling out of the game with 11:48 remaining. Frank Beatty also had 13 points, and Steve Leary and Keith Brown scored 12 and 11 respectively.

El Camino took a 44-40 halftime edge on Lockley’s baseline jumper at the buzzer.

The Warriors benefited from the early ejection of Santa Monica freshman point guard Chico Langston, who threw a punch at El Camino guard Allen Caveness.

The Warriors kept the lead until midway through the second half, when Santa Monica’s Jason Shea hit a three-pointer to put the Corsairs ahead, 61-60. El Camino tied the score at 64-64 with 8:35 remaining and regained the lead on two Steven Leary free throws with 6:30 left.

El Camino advances Wednesday to play L.A. City College, which defeated Mira Costa, 81-72, on Saturday.