Johnson Scores Season High but Warriors Tripped up by Barstow in Overtime

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Sophomore Kai Johnson logged a season-high with 32 points but it was not enough as El Camino College suffered a 96-92 loss to Barstow on Thursday afternoon in game one of the Santa Barbara City/El Camino College Holiday Classic Tournament.

Johnson went 12-for-23 from the field for the Warriors and hit a season-high five 3-pointers to lead the Warriors offense. Rocco Gaffoglio added 14 points with Justin Cricri chipping in with 10 points in 13 minutes off the bench in his first game back from injury.

Linken Tate also had a career-best 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting as he logged his second career start. It was his first career double-digit scoring game.

But the Vikings managed to score the victory thanks to having four players in double figures including a pair of 20-point performances. Trestyne Nguru led the way for Barstow with 28 points and added seven rebounds with six assists. Peter Oguama scored 24 points and grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds including eight on the offensive end. His effort helped the Vikings edge the Warriors in the rebounding battle with a 49-43 advantage including a 28-16 edge on the offensive glass.

The Warriors led for much of the game and led by as many as 16 points in the second half but the Vikings went 6-for-15 on 3-pointers after hitting just one on 14 tries in the opening half. They also went to the free-throw line 21 times, hitting 14 from the charity stripe while the Warriors had just six attempts, making three in the final 20 minutes.

The Warriors will head to the consolation bracket with Barstow advancing to the tournament semifinals. The Warriors will face the loser of the L.A. Valley-Cuesta game at 1 p.m. with the Vikings facing the winner at 5 p.m. on Friday.