El Camino Puts Up a Fight, but Loses : Basketball: Powerful Long Beach is able to shrug off poor first half and wins, 84-74. The Warriors had lost to the Vikings by 40 points earlier this season.

It seemed too good to be true when El Camino College trailed by only two points late in the first half of Saturday’s South Coast Conference game against Long Beach City College.

Long Beach is ranked No. 2 in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau and is the only undefeated team in the SCC.

But the Vikings were able to hold off the Warriors, 84-74, to increase their winning streak to 10 games.

In the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 25, Long Beach (26-6 overall, 7-0 in SCC play) won by 40. Viking Coach Gary Anderson was surprised at how close El Camino (12-12, 3-4) came to upsetting his team.

“I knew El Camino would come back,” he said. “They’re a great team, but we also became a little careless at moments.”

With 13 minutes 18 seconds left in the first half, Long Beach led, 20-5. Then the Warriors went on a 15-3 run that ended with a spectacular breakaway dunk by Tyrone Paul.

The run helped cut Long Beach’s lead to 38-36 with a little over a minute left before halftime. Damaine Powell’s jump shot in the final seconds gave the Vikings a 40-36 halftime lead.

Long Beach started the second half with back-to-back three-point baskets, which gave it a 10-point lead. The Vikings led by double figures throughout most of the second half, but El Camino rallied to within seven with 14:03 remaining.

Long Beach then went on an 18-8 run for a 77-60 lead with 6:55 left to play.

“We were outmanned, outgunned and outshot tonight,” El Camino Coach Paul Landreaux said. “They overpowered us. Long Beach has a great chance of winning the state title. They’re that good.”

Four El Camino players scored in double figures, led by Paul’s game-high 20 points. Mike Reynolds had 18, Mark Johnson 14 and Troy Williams added 11.

Long Beach was led by Aaron Adams and James Bacon, who had 17 points each. El Camino will end the regular season at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday.

“I think we’ve gotten as much mileage out of this group as we can,” Landreaux said of his team.

Chris Hansen played for the Warriors after missing two games. Hansen, a former standout at El Segundo High, had quit the team to dedicate more time to his job. Landreaux says Hansen will finish the season with the team.