First-Half Deficit Too Much to Overcome in Loss to Grossmont

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College suffered a 98-84 non-conference loss to Grossmont on Wednesday evening at the ECC Gym Complex.

The Warriors fell behind by 17 points at halftime and it proved too much to overcome in the second half despite ECC outscoring the Griffins in the final 20 minutes.

The Griffins were blistering hot from 3-point range, hitting 18-of-32 from beyond the arc with five players hitting three or more threes on Wednesday evening.

Rocco Gaffoglio led the Warriors with 19 points and hit three of the team's four 3-pointers on the night. He also recorded a team-high three steals. Kai Johnson scored all 15 of his points in the second half while Justin Kirksey added a season-high 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting in nine minutes off the bench.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half but clawed back to cut the deficit to single digits on two occasions. They cut the margin to eight points at 71-63 with 8:20 left in regulation on a layup by Gaffoglio but the Griffins hit three straight threes to push it back to double digits and they never looked back.

The Warriors will return to action on Friday afternoon when they host Pasadena for an SCC crossover matchup with tipoff set for 3 p.m.