Beavers fight tough in high-scoring loss

PASADENA, Calif. – The Los Angeles Trade Tech College Men's Basketball team tipped-off the first game of the inaugural William "Skip" Robinson Classic Tournament with a hard-fought, high-scoring loss to El Camino College, 116-104.

The Purple & Gold Beavers started with an excellent display of hustle and scoring from Rayshawn Bulger who nearly booked his double-double in the first half, 15 points and nine rebounds

Bulger finished with 22 pts and an impressive 18 rebounds, two steals and an assist. His presence inside the box will benefit the Beavers this season as he leads the team in rebounding.

But the turnover bug bite the Beavers hard as it turned the ball over 45 times to El Camino's 22.

"They did an excellent job. They did what they wanted to do and it was about us not being able to control the tempo, with pace and space. We were erratic and sporadic. We got work to do," Associate Head Coach Ervin J. Monier said.

Tech was able to come up with the lead early in the second half at 60-59, yet after El Camino's   three-point scoring was tough to keep up with as it finished 17 of 54 (31%) from behind the arc, while the Beavers missed all 10 of its attempts.

Beside Bulger, Tech finished with four other players in double figures; Treshawn Knowles, 12 pts (5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) and Maxim Peranidze with 15 pts (3 REB, 4 AST) both off the bench. Starters Maurice West was one rebound short of a double-double with 14 pts (9 REB, 3 AST. 3 STL) and Lawrence Carter, 16 pts (3 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK).

"We're relatively young with our basketball experience at this level (nine freshman), so we're just figuring out how to play together. We'll be alright, it's early in the season and we'll eventually execute our game plan," Moneir said.

Tech moves on to the consolation bracket of the Robinson tournament and will face-off with South Coast Conference-North rival Mount San Antonio College, 1 p.m at its neutral site Pasadena City College.