With the score 94-90 and under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Santa Monica College (5-4) bench was quiet as they were witness to what could have been an upset comeback by the El Camino-Compton Center Tartars (4-4) at home Saturday afternoon.
The Tartars were down 93-71 with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, but El Camino-Compton Center’s guard Chris Miller refused to let the game end in a blowout fashion scoring 28 points in the second half and lead an amazing 19-1 Tartars run against SMC before the Corsairs were able to recover and win the game 105-97.
SMC forward David Nwaba played a large role in the win, and under his leadership the Corsairs found themselves winning by a hundred plus points for the first time this season.
“We played a better game today,” said Nwaba. “From our last game coming off of a loss, we had to step it up just a little bit and be more aggressive to the rack but still avoiding the charges.”
The game began close but after Nwaba dunked the ball off a steal from guard Adam Griffin, Nwaba was able to slide in two more points on a layup during the Corsairs next possession to extend the lead of the Corsairs 16-8.
Keilan Horton sank a basket to extend the lead of the Corsairs 22-13.
But Miller was on fire hitting a trio of three point shots to keep the Tartars in the game cutting SMC’s lead to two points at 24-22 by the middle of the first quarter.
The Corsairs regained their composure after Nwaba dunked on the Tartars once again to make the game 30-24.
Griffin added a three-point shot to sweeten the deal and Nwaba put in another bucket to extend the 12-6 run to make the game 36-28 and the run proved costly to the Tartars in their loss to the Corsairs.
Nwaba had 28 points to lead the Corsairs while Miller had 38 points to lead the Tartars.
Next game for the Corsairs is against LA Harbor at home Thursday Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
