The state-ranked No. 23 Long Beach City College men's basketball team rallied in the second half to take down the LA Southwest Cougars 67-60 in their first South Coast Conference victory. Sophomore guard Aaron Jelks led the team with career-high record of 23 points.
The Vikings came back in the second half after trailing the Cougars 26-32. Long Beach turned up the volume and put down the hammer with 41 more points in the second half, while only allowing LA Southwest to 28 points.
Jelks became unglued in the second half as he hit 20 more points and was 10-14 at the line. He was on the constant attack to bring back the Vikings from a 14-point deficit. Jelks also had seven rebounds, six assists and five steals against the Cougars.
Freshman forward Matthew Schmidt also stepped it up and nailed 16 points for the Vikings. Schmidt utilized his size in the paint for second chance points and tallied six rebounds.
The No. 23 Vikings will return to the court on Friday, Jan. 24 at No. 28 Cerritos College in their second South Coast Conference game at 7 p.m.
